Lawyer barricaded herself in quarantine hotel room after security guard harassment
A lawyer was forced to barricade herself in her quarantine hotel room after being harassed by a security guard, it has emerged.
Brittany Dodds, 26, was bombarded with Facebook messages from the guard during her stay in the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel at Heathrow.
The South African lawyer ignored the messages and said she did not raise a complaint out of fear it could “provoke him”.
On the evening of her fourth day of quarantine she used her bags to barricade the door after he sent a message saying, “this evening I’ll come”, the BBC reported.
The following day the guard was reportedly offended after the lawyer asked for another person to escort her back to her room. He then knocked on her door again.
“At this point I was shaking and had no words because I knew that he was now following me,” she told the BBC.
She did not leave her room again for six days until after her quarantine was finished.
Since February, anyone travelling to the UK from a red list country has been required to quarantine in a government-approved facility for 10 days.
Travellers face a £1,750 bill for the stay which aims to prevent new Covid-19 variants entering the UK. The cost covers travel to and from the hotel, food and testing.
An investigation by the BBC previously revealed allegations of sexual harassment by guards against female guests in quarantine hotels, including one woman who said a guard mimed having sex while in a lift with her.
Ms Dodds is one of 16 women who has now reported incidents to the broadcaster.
In response to the allegations, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on Thursday that women will now be escorted by female guards. If none are available, male guards should work in twos.
Rosaria Lily Brenno, who quarantined in the Arora Gatwick Hotel with her sister last month, said the experience was “horrendous”.
“Whilst out on walks I would wear gym pants. The guards made a habit of telling me my body and bum looked good,” Rosaria told The Telegraph.
A DHSC spokesperson said: “Sexual harassment and abuse are abhorrent – and all allegations of this are taken extremely seriously. We are doing our utmost to ensure every person in managed quarantine gets the support they need and we’re urgently working to investigate complaints of this nature.
“We expect hotels to do everything they can to keep people safe and to address concerns raised by guests, as well as raising with us where needed.
“We will not hesitate to take immediate action to suspend staff where appropriate and report to the police if necessary.”
