Men’s kickabout ends up costing them £800
Team spoke Mercia Safer
They said four men meeting for game of football. did not know aboutthe Covid regulations
aFOUR men caught meeting for a kick-about told police they did not know about lockdown laws because they did not watch TV.
It turned out to be an expensive game of football as they were all handed £200 fines for breaching Covid regulations.
The incident caught the attention of police after they noticed a football rolling into oncoming traffic in the Willington area.
It was retrieved by a “perplexedlooking” man. But when officers pulled over to speak to him about road safety, it became clear he had invited three other men (in three separate cars) to make non-essential journeys to his father’s home for a kick-about. Officers from the Mercia and Etwall, Hilton and Hatton Safer Neighbourhood Teams were out on routine evening patrol at the time.
To make matters worse, the homeowner had no idea his house was being used for a football game.
When officers explained the coronavirus guidelines, one of the men said they did not watch the news because it contained “too much talk about coronavirus”.
A spokesman said: “Four men were issued fines after they surprised officers by claiming they were not aware of current pandemic regulations because they don’t watch television.
“Officers from Mercia Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) and Etwall, Hilton and Hatton SNT were on routine evening patrol when they noticed a football rolling into the path of oncoming traffic.
“The ball was retrieved by a perplexed-looking lone male. When officers pulled over the speak to the man about road safety awareness, it became immediately clear that he’d invited three other men (in three separate cars) to make non-essential journeys to his father’s home for a kick-about.
“Officers telephoned the owner of the property and he explained he had no idea that his home was being used for the impromptu football game.
“As officers attempted to explain the need to follow widely-publicised current guidance, one of the incandescent-cheeked males stated that he and his friends didn’t watch television news reports because they contained ‘too much talk about coronavirus.’
The exact location of the offence has not been revealed by police.
ANOTher 86 cases of coronavirus have been recorded across Derbyshire and Derby, according to Government statistics released last night.
The total – up from the 55 announced on Wednesday – includes 26 cases in Derby and 60 across the wider county.
Outside of Derby, Amber Valley recorded the biggest increase, with 12 more people diagnosed.
Five areas saw fewer than 10 new cases - North east Derbyshire, South Derbyshire, Derbyshire Dales, Bolsover and Chesterfield.
The new figures bring the total number of cases in Derby and Derbyshire since the start of the pandemic to 68,036.
Meanwhile there have been no further deaths of people with Covid-19 in Derbyshire NhS trusts for the second successuive day. There have been 2,090 coronavirus-related fatalities at Derbyshire hospitals in total.
The total number of cases reported in Derbyshire (figure in brackets indicates new cases recorded in the last 24 hours)
■■Amber Valley 8,509 (12)
■■Bolsover 5,887 (2)
■■Chesterfield 6,041 (5)
■■Derby 19,821 (26)
■■Derbyshire Dales 2,939 (2)
■■erewash 6,937 (11)
■■high Peak 4,856 (10)
■■North east Derbyshire 5,852 (9)
■■South Derbyshire 7,194 (9) The Government said a further 63 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday. It brings the UK total to 126,445. As of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 6,397 lab-confirmed cases. It brings that total to 4,319,128.
The number of Covid-related hospital deaths since the start of the pandemic is as follows (figures in brackets indicates new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours)
■■Derby and Burton NhS Foundation Trust 1,639 (0)
■■Chesterfield royal hospital 412 (0)
■■Derbyshire Community health Services 37 (0)
■■Derbyshire healthcare - 2 (0). A total of 26,710,498 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in england between December 8 and March 24, according to NhS england data, including first and second doses - a rise of 483,894 on the previous day. NhS england said 24,681,955 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 275,881 on the previous day, while 2,028,543 were a second dose, an increase of 208,013.