£64K TO POLICE ILLEGAL RAVE
RAVERS BRANDED SELFISH AS POLICE REVEAL COST TO TAXPAYER
THE cost of policing the rave in Yate last month has been revealed. Last week, Avon and Somerset’s police chief promised to hunt down everyone who attacked officers as they shut down the illegal rave in Yate on October 31.
The rave lasted nearly 24 hours and attracted up to 700 people to the disused warehouse in a “blatant breach” of the coronavirus regulations.
The force has now revealed the cost of policing the event.
Andy Roebuck, chair of Avon and Somerset Police Federation, tweeted policing the Yate rave cost £64,000.
He tweeted: “More importantly such actions by people attending increased the spread of covid-19.
“It also meant we couldn’t attend many other demanding incidents. Selfish & idiotic acts bring consequences.”
The tweet by the chair attracted several responses, with one saying: “It also increased the exposure to COVID of the officers who attended, meaning the potential reduction of officers needed to attend genuine emergencies. Selfish and thoughtless behaviour.”
Speaking during a Facebook Live last week, chief constable Andy Marsh said a second organiser of the event on October 31 had been slapped with a £10,000 fine
Mr Marsh said: “We attended the unlicensed music event in Yate within 12 minutes of being called. There were already 250 to 300 people there.
“We have many hours of bodyworn video footage of the violence, threats and intimidations used towards police officers.
“There were missiles thrown, bottles, punches, kicks, fireworks fired at officers. All sorts of really significant violence.”
No one was seriously injured. Mr Marsh added: “The officers didn’t retreat, they put a cordon around the event. They stopped more people attending, many hundreds, we think. These events grow incredibly quickly.
“Once we’d mustered support from surrounding forces we cleared the event, cut the power, seized the generator and arrested eight people. We’ve issued two £10,000 tickets to people we believe were involved in organising the event.
“If anyone was there, don’t sleep soundly. We’re reviewing many hours of footage. Where we identify people, you’ll be getting a ticket.
“Anyone who used violence towards police officers, wherever they come from, we will hunt them down, arrest them and bring them to justice. I do anticipate many more tickets to be issued.”
Anyone with information about the event who has not yet come forward, can contact the police online or on 101, giving the call-handler reference number 5220 247 128.