Up to 10 off-duty police officers were caught at a party that breached coronavirus social distancing rules and were suspended while the police standards office investigates them.
The off-duty officers were discovered breaking the law when their on-duty colleagues from Sussex Police turned up at a large house party in Hove on the evening of May 15th, two days before lockdown restrictions were relaxed.
A police source speaking to The Telegraph called the incident a “major embarrassment”, especially since the force “have been handing out these draconian £10,000 fines to Covid rule-breakers”.
Police were empowered to hand out £10,000 fines to those caught organising large events in contravention of coronavirus laws, with the National Police Chiefs Council revealing that forces in England had handed out more than 340 fines of £10,000 for organising a gathering of more than 30.
Sussex Police have already used that power to fine a producer £10,000 for filming a music video in Eastbourne that drew dozens of participants, and the organiser of a house party in Brighton attended by 100 people also received the same maximum penalty.
“People will be watching to make sure the same penalties are handed out to those found to have broken the rules,” the source told the newspaper.
A spokeswoman from Sussex Police confirmed: “Police officers were called to an address in Hove, following reports of a gathering inside on Saturday, 15 May at 8.46pm.
“They entered and found a number of off-duty officers present. This incident, in breach of current lockdown restrictions, is being investigated by the force’s professional standards department.”
The policing of lockdown and social distancing rules have been heavily criticised in the more than 14 months since the government passed the emergency coronavirus law, with former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption last year comparing the legislation and expanded policing powers to a “police state”.
Speaking of an incident in the Spring of 2020 when Derbyshire police died a lagoon black to dissuade swimmers and stalked dog walkers in beauty spots with drones, Lord Sumption said: “This is what a police state is like — it is a state in which the government can issue orders or express preferences with no legal authority, and the police enforce minister’s wishes.”
Last year, forces across the UK were also claimed or found to have harassed shop owners for selling Easter eggs on the grounds that they were not ‘essential’, fined a man £200 for going to his friend’s house for a cup of tea, and handed a fixed penalty notice to a group of people from the same household for walking to the local convenience store together.
In November, in one notable case, West Midlands Police fined mourners who gathered to pay their respects to loved ones lost in the 1974 IRA bombings in Birmingham.
2021 had hardly seen a better performance from the police, with Derbyshire Police, again, fining two women for driving to a local nature reserve for some gentle exercise and telling them that their coffees were not allowed as they constituted a “picnic”. One of the women described there being “loads of police” at the park who descended upon her vehicle as she pulled in, with one then promptly reading her her rights. It was only after the story gained widespread media attention that the force apologised and rescinded the fines.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.