Darwin man held in Singapore immigration custody on wrong Jetstar advice for

An Australian tourist claims he was locked up in a ‘filthy’ Singaporean immigration prison for 40 hours after Jetstar gave him wrong entry advice and refused to help.

Richard Grant flew from Darwin to Thailand three months ago but was refused entry to the country because he hadn’t had a Covid PCR test – something he insists Jetstar told him he didn’t need to do.

Mr Grant was then returned to Singapore – the country he had transited from. 

It was the beginning of a horrendous ordeal. 

Messages between Jetstar staff and Mr Grant (above) show the airline did not think his case was a priority, despite him being locked away for their mistake

Mr Grant was locked up in a Singaporean immigration facility and sent messages to Jetstar’s Facebook page pleading for them to assist him. 

‘Your staff told me I didn’t need a PCR test,’ he said – before the budget airline replied that he would get a response from a human within 15 business days. 

‘I’m in a cell. 

‘I need help now’.

Darwin man Richard Grant spent 40 hours in a Singaporean detention centre after Jetstar staff told him he did not need a PCR test result to enter Thailand

Mr Grant said he tested positive Covid two weeks before visiting Thailand, and contacted Jetstar to find out how he could go ahead with his holiday.

Jetstar staff told him he would only need a letter of recovery from his doctor and would not need to undergo a PCR test.

‘I was booked in to get the test done and I cancelled it because they told me I didn’t need to do it,’ he told Sydney radio station 2GB. 

However, when he arrived in Thailand authorities told him he could not enter the country without a negative PCR result and sent him back to his transit country, Singapore.

Visitors to Thailand need to either show proof they’re vaccinated against Covid or a negative test.

Mandatory tests for those vaccinated against Covid were dropped back on May 1. 

Mr Grant was sent to an immigration cell at his transit stop in Singapore (above) after he was refused entry to Thailand

Mr Grant arrived at Singapore airport at 2am where he was greeted by immigration officers and taken into custody.

They said they would not be able to help him get out without confirmation from Jetstar about the precise circumstances of his predicament. 

Jetstar staff said his matter might not be dealt with for 15 days.

Still, officers at the detention centre assured Mr Grant that Jetstar staff would come to work at the airport in the morning and could help him then. 

‘The way (immigration officers) explained it to me was it’s 2am, there were no staff there from Jetstar but staff will be on deck at 6am so unfortunately they have to put me in a room until someone from Jetstar can come help,’ he said.

Mr Grant said the cell (pictured) was ‘filthy’ and ‘freezing’ and that Jetstar staff said it could take 15 days for someone to help with his case

Mr Grant instead remained in custody for 40 hours, almost two full days. 

His time in immigration custody means Mr Grant is now banned from Singapore for life, meaning he won’t be able to travel through the transit hub anymore despite living just a four-hour flight away. 

He says his desperate…