Canadian backpacker whose dog was eaten by a crocodile may be DEPORTED from WA

A young Canadian backpacker is facing deportation from Australia over a Covid quarantine breach after a nightmare two months that began when her beloved dog was eaten by a crocodile.

Amanda Phillips, 27, was on a fishing trip in the Northern Territory when her dog and ‘best friend’ Blaze was taken by a croc a week before Christmas which turned her world upside down.

She is now waiting in immigration detention for a supreme court hearing and is pleading for funds to help her get back to Canada after bizarrely being locked up alongside ‘murderers and rapists’.

A traumatised Ms Phillips decided to quit her fishing adventure after Blaze’s death and headed from Darwin to Perth after obtaining a G2G visa.

Amanda Phillips, 27, was on a fishing trip in the Northern Territory when her dog and ‘best friend’ Blaze was taken by a croc a week before Christmas which turned her world upside down

The young Canadian backpacker is facing deportation from Australia over a Covid quarantine breach after a nightmare two months that began when her beloved dog was eaten by a crocodile

‘The conditions of Northern Territory were getting intense with an outrageous amount of mosquitos and extreme heat,’ she said on a GoFundMe page set up to help her pay for her legal costs and an air ticket home.

She had lived in Australia for four years and was traveling through Queensland in her own van, which broke down before her dog died.

‘The attack was my breaking point and had to call it quits on the fishing trip. The surroundings were a constant reminder of Blaze’s last breaths and it was making me go completely insane.’

When she landed in Perth on December 22, the designated address provided on her border form was a Fremantle hotel.

But Ms Philips, who was double vaccinated, instead left the hotel bound for a camping trip.

She was arrested on January 29 after a police check and incarcerated pending a court appearance.

Ms Phillips pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to comply with a direction.

She expected to be let off with a fine but instead faced one of WA’s toughest judges who sentenced her on January 4 to six months in Bandyup Women’s jail.

‘I was locked up with murderers, rapists, thieves and drug dealers. It might just be me but I don’t consider “Breacher of Quarantine” a title that fits with these other convicts,’ Ms Phillips said.

But Ms Phillips managed to quickly secure a lawyer with the help of a friend, and have an appeal heard. 

On January 12 she was granted bail after an appeal on the basis her sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’.

Ms Phillips expected to be let off with a fine but instead faced one of WA’s toughest judges who sentenced her on January 4 to six months in Bandyup Women’s jail

Ms Phillips is trying to raise money for a barrister to help her pay for legal services before an upcoming appearance in Perth magistrates court

But instead of being freed into the community, border force officials swooped on her because the guilty pleas meant her visa was cancelled.

She was rushed into an immigration detention centre where she is waiting a supreme court date.

‘Many of my friends, family members, lawyers and even many of the guards of the prison have been in shock with sentencing. It’s been a dark and horrible journey, not something I’d wish upon anyone.’ 

The magistrate who originally sentenced her acted on incorrect information regarding her charges, the court heard.

She was told two charges were for failing to remain at a location as directed, when in fact one of those counts related to not wearing a mask. 

Justice Stephen Hall ruled the errors meant she should have been re-sentenced and her sentence should have been wholly suspended.