PARTY PATROL
‘MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WORRIED – THEY WANT US TO TAKE ACTION’:
WE JOIN NOTTINGHAM’S FRONTLINE COVID COPS AS THEY TACKLE THE LOCKDOWN LAW-BREAKERS
THE Post has been granted exclusive access to the city’s Covid Police Team and joined officers on patrol as they respond to calls about illegal gatherings and lockdown rule-breakers.
And on Friday, at just 7pm, they were called to break up their first house party of the night – an 18th birthday celebration in Forest Fields.
The police received a tip-off that there were more than 15 people at the address in Exeter Road, with the majority gathered in the lounge.
The officers, equipped with gloves, masks and body cameras, swooped to discover music, food and alcohol and no social distancing.
Some of the revellers tried to escape through the back door of the terraced house but were stopped by officers. Some, however, manage to get away.
Police said the “organised party” was set up by the boy’s father, with extended family from across Notts in attendance.
There is always an excuse, says Sergeant Dave Wardle, who heads the team based at Radford Road Police station – and this family was adamant “they had done nothing wrong”.
The father was fined £800 and the remaining revellers were sent on their way.
But, incredibly, at 10.45pm, officers were called back to the address to discover the party-goers had sneaked back in. This time everyone was hit with £200 fines.
POLICE officers have revealed the types of excuses party-goers in Nottingham have given when they arrive at illegal gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1,000 people have died in Nottinghamshire hospitals since the start of the pandemic and the number of deaths continues to rise across the county.
Critical care beds are still full as NHS workers battle to save those struck down by the deadly virus, but still house parties and illegal gatherings continue to happen across Nottinghamshire.
A new Covid police team has been launched in the city from Radford Road police station, which responds to neighbours’ calls of house parties happening on their streets.
Their busiest evening is normally Saturday, when officers can attend up to 11 illegal parties.
Sergeant Dave Wardle says from 8am to 1am the team can have a continuous flow of reports, with “sometimes more jobs than we can get to”.
He has heard all the excuses in the book as the team fine residents £10,000 for organising large gatherings of more than 30 people and £800 for more than 15 people present.
They can also hand out £200 fines to rule breakers.
And it is no longer just a student issue, he confirmed, as people from 40 to 50 years old have been caught in breach of the lockdown rules.
Sergeant Wardle told the Post: “We have seen people hiding behind sofas and in gardens. As soon as there is a knock at the front door they scarper.
“They normally try and get out of the back door, refuse entry or send one person to the door.”
■ He said there are a number of excuses that continue to pop up. These include:
■ “We are in a bubble” – even if there is 10 plus people found in the household.
■ “We have only done it this one time”
■ “It’s my birthday”.
■ “Covid is a conspiracy. It is down to Bill Gates.”
The Post spoke to a number of rule breakers when we went out with the Covid team on Friday.
Officers closed down an 18th birthday party in Exeter Road, Forest Fields, at around 7pm when there
were more than 15 people at the address.
They returned at 10.45pm - after giving the organiser an £800 fine - to find that family members had crept back in to continue the celebration. They were all issued £200 fines. We asked one of the party-goers why they decided to break the rules twice? He said: “It is just one day.”
The birthday boy told us he “doesn’t give a s**t about the police. It is my birthday.”
Two young women were also asked to leave an address in Radford Road after telling police they were in a support bubble with the man at the property. We asked them what happened.
They said: “It is for his mental health (the person they visited). He has been down. We popped in to get alcohol and a takeaway. We may have been wrong.
“We are young. It is not something we would normally do.”
Last year, there was a rising problem in areas such as Lenton, where students were organising large scale house parties, with a number of excuses being given.
When challenged, students at one property in Kimbolton Avenue, where four people were fined £10,000 each, claimed they should be having the “time of their lives” and officers were essentially “spoiling their fun”.
Students are being advised not to return to the city and to continue their studies online instead from their family homes, but residents are worried they are coming back to celebrate the end of exams.
Last weekend, a DJ set-up was in place in a communal area of flats in Castle Boulevard, near The Park, at around 1.15am, and party-goers were fined.
Officers also found a buffet, a poker table and bottles of alcohol at a gathering in Gregory Avenue, at 2.15am. Ten people were given fixed penalty notices.
Four of those fined had their penalties increased to £400 for being repeat offenders.
Nine people were also fined £200 after officers were called to a house party in Harrington Drive.
One person tried to block a bedroom door and two people were found hiding under a bed in the same room when officers entered the property.
But Sgt Wardle said house parties are by no means just a student problem.
He said: “It is not just students, it is a mix of all parts of society - all the way up to 40 and 50-year-olds.
“I am not sure how many students are back.”
Asked if people were getting better at breaking the rules by having fewer than 30 guests to avoid the £10,000 fines and less than 15 to avoid the £800 fine, he said: “People don’t think about it in that much detail. They think ‘it is their birthday, it is a weekend, we will have a party and try and get away with it.”
But now, 11 months into the pandemic and with more than 1,445 local lives lost, there shouldn’t be a single person who doesn’t realise the severity of the situation, he added.
Public Health Nottingham warns that “Covid loves a good party” and “house to house mixing” has been cited as one of the main routes of transmission.