British police busted a woman and five of her friends for having an illegal coronavirus dinner party at her house.
The six women live in the so-called coronavirus ‘hotspot’ of Hull. They were inspired to host the dinner party by the Channel 4 television series Come Dine with Me, where a group of people take it in turns to host a dinner party.
One of the women had posted the invitation on Facebook, and later a selfie was posted from during the event. It would appear that someone who had seen the Facebook posts had reported the women to the police.
Remarkably, Humberside Police took the time to respond to the reports of the party that day, knocking on the organiser’s door while the event was still taking place, according to Hull Live.
A statement from Humberside Police said that officers “followed the approach of engaging with the group, explaining the regulations and encouraging them to follow them. The women at the property were very cooperative and left the property without the need for enforcement.” Organising ‘illegal gatherings’ during coronavirus restrictions could result in up to a £10,000 fine.
The force then added an encouragement to others to snitch if they “witness any clear breaches of the Covid-regulations”.
The journalists for Hull Live said that when they “confronted” one attendee on the illegal party on Sunday morning, she responded: “I’d love to be spending my Sunday mornings trying to work… But I’m waiting on my big fat breakfast because I am rough [hung over].”
The Sun reported reaction to the women trying to enjoy a normal social life, including one person who said it was an “utter disgrace” and that the women should just “do as you’re told” in order to get back to normality.
One other attendee responded to criticism on Facebook by saying: “You worry about yourself, and I’ll worry about myself.”
Earlier this month, Greater Manchester Police publicly shamed a man on Facebook because he broke social distancing rules by going to his friend’s house for a cup of tea, fining him £200.
While the force refrained from naming him, it was disturbingly similar to the joy other forces took in shaming alleged COVID criminals in the first lockdown. Derbyshire Police posted on social media that they had busted Britons for infractions such as walking their dog in a beauty spot, while Warrington Police were proud to announce that they had fined people for walking to the shops with their housemates to buy “non-essential” items and for going for a drive out of boredom.
Recent months have also seen a rise of reports of Britons snitching on each other, to the extent that in September, police constabularies revealed that so many citizens were keen to report on one another that they were forced to put on more telephony staff.
In one case, a woman claimed it was her “public duty” to call the police on a funeral wake in a pub garden because she thought people were standing too close together.