Corona Cops: UK Police Hand Out over 3,200 Fines in First Two Weeks of Lockdown

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 21 : Police officers on patrol outside St James' P
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Kurt Zindulka

Police in the United Kingdom issued more than 3,000 fines in the first two weeks of the national lockdown alone, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told the House of Commons.

Michael Gove told Parliament that 3,203 fines were handed out to people allegedly breaking the social distancing measures between March 27th and April 13th, but added that many more would have been issued since then.

“Our police have been working hard to keep people safe while enforcing the new measures the prime minister put in place just over a month ago,” Mr Gove said.

“They’ve issued 3,203 fines between March 27th and April 13th to those who have flouted social distancing rules and this number will, of course, have increased considerably since then, all dedicated to helping save lives and protecting the NHS,” he added.

Mr Gove’s statement comes as a teenager, Lewis Brown, 18, was found to have been wrongly convicted under the Coronavirus Act after police arrested him for visiting his mother in Oxford.

Thames Valley Police charged Mr Brown under paragraph 67 of the act, which deals explicitly with people believed to have contracted the virus in Wales, despite him not being in Wales or displaying any symptoms of the Chinese coronavirus.

The police said that the charges would be withdrawn against him, telling The Times: “We can confirm that in this instance Mr Brown was arrested and incorrectly charged under the Coronavirus Act and was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the offence. The Crown Prosecution Service is currently reviewing this case with a view to it being withdrawn.”

Kirsty Brimelow QC accused the police force of implementing a system in which there is a “casual criminalisation of people” during the coronavirus lockdown.

“For good measure, not only has the wrong law been used but the wrong law for the wrong country. The section charged and prosecuted relates to Wales. As far as I know, Wales has not expanded during the lockdown to include Oxford,” Brimelow said.

“We have seen police misinterpret the [Coronavirus legislation] and enforce them unnecessarily harshly. This punitive approach has alienated and alarmed members of the public, eroded trust in authorities, sown confusion and undermined the rule of law,” said Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch.

Police forces throughout the country have been criticised for their over-the-top enforcement of the coronavirus lockdown.

In one instance, Derbyshire Police was widely condemned for posting police drone footage of socially-distanced walkers in the Peak District, while writing that their exercise was “not essential”.

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