Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
More £10k fines for five house party hosts
Fines totalling more than £70,000 have now been dished out to people in Canterbury found to be flouting Covid-19 restrictions on social gatherings.
In the latest incident, two men and two women in their early 20s were each given £200 fixed penalty notices just 90 minutes into the second national lockdown.
At 1.30am on Thursday, police broke up a party they were hosting in Adelaide Plaice, with officers kicking out up to 20 revellers.
Days before, in the early hours of Saturday, October 31, police shut down a noisy bash at a house in South Street following complaints from neighbours
As many as 80 people were in attendance at 12.30am.
Five men who live at the property - all aged 19 and 20 - were fined £10,000 each.
The South Street party came little more than a week after two 19-year-old women were also fined £10,000 each for hosting a bash at a house in Ulcombe Gardens.
Police say “well in excess” of 30 revellers were at the party when they broke it up in the early hours of October 22. The fines were the first of their kind to be issued in Kent.
Assistant Chief Constable Claire Nix said: “Hosting large gatherings in the middle of a pandemic, especially on the first day of a new national lockdown, is completely unacceptable and we do not hesitate to take action against those who display such blatant disregard for the coronavirus regulations. “People who organise and attend such events are not only putting their own health at risk, but also their family members and anyone else they may come into contact with. “This may include people who are vulnerable to Covid-19, including those who are elderly or already suffering from other serious health conditions.”