SINGAPORE - Four work pass holders who breached safe distancing measures while spending a day on Lazarus Island last year are permanently banned from working in Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Thursday (Feb 25).

MOM has revoked their work passes.

They were part of a group of 12 people who were on Lazarus Island on Aug 8.

The four British nationals were sentenced on Wednesday and fined $3,000 for breaching Covid-19 regulations.

Three of them - Helen Ann Sullivan, Joshua Adam Roth, and James Riby Oram Trimming - are 31, and the fourth, Edward John Joseph Lee-Bull, is 33.

They pleaded guilty to a charge of meeting others for a non-permitted purpose and without reasonable excuse under the Covid-19 regulations.

The Straits Times understands that the individuals must leave Singapore within seven days upon the revocation of their work passes, subject to appeal.

Their trip happened during phase two of Singapore's reopening, when only groups of up to five people were allowed to meet outside their homes for social purposes.

The other eight persons were earlier fined $3,000 each.

Six others from the group were also permanently banned from working in Singapore by MOM last year. Five of these were work pass holders and one was a dependant's pass holder.

All their passes had already been cancelled by their former employers before the ban took effect.

The six, William Edwin Dunford, Richard Henri Lagesse, Lowri Mair Jeffs, Zoe Louise Cronk, Jeff Richard Alexander and Paul Jonathon Gold, are also British, and all in their early 30s.

The remaining two are Natalie Joanna Sarkies, who is Singaporean, and Luong Thi Thu Ha, who is Vietnamese.

Those found guilty of breaching a Covid-19 regulation can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.