A member of parliament pled guilty to violating Covid regulations when she traveled by train while knowing she had the virus.
Margaret Ferrier addressed the legislature in September 2020, pending the results of a Covid test.
After being informed she had tested positive, she returned to Glasgow via train.
Ms. Ferrier accepted that she had negligently and culpably exposed the public to the virus before a Glasgow Sheriff Court trial.
She was elected as an SNP member of parliament, but lost the whip and is now an independent.
The representative for Rutherglen and Hamilton West underwent a Covid test on September 26 due to a “tickly throat.
She is believed to have attended church and a bar in Prestwick on Sunday while awaiting her results.
She then traveled by train to London on Monday and appeared in the House of Commons later that day before learning she had tested positive for the virus.
Ms. Ferrier chose to take a train back to Glasgow the following day out of worry that she would have to spend two weeks alone in a London hotel room.
She has previously expressed “great sorrow” for her acts and referred herself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the police, but has thus far declined to quit as a member of parliament.
“Dangerous and unjustifiable”
The 61-year-old initially became a member of parliament in 2015, when the SNP won 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats.
In May 2020, Ms. Ferrier was one of the members of parliament who demanded the resignation of the prime minister’s adviser, Dominic Cummings, due to the controversy surrounding his visit to the North East of England during the lockdown.
She stated at the time that his actions “undermined the sacrifices we’ve all been making in lockdown to protect each other from coronavirus” and that his position was “untenable.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon denounced Ms. Ferrier’s conduct as “dangerous and indefensible” after it was revealed she traveled with Covid symptoms.
Later, the SNP leader “with a heavy heart” requested her resignation as an MP.
