Police find 24 in flat at birthday party for toddler
AFTER £800 FINES ARE HANDED OUT, HOSTS TELL US: ‘IT WAS ONLY FAMILY, WE KNOW THEY DON’T HAVE CORONAVIRUS’
A FAMILY have been slammed as “selfish” for defying lockdown rules and holding a birthday party for a toddler that was attended by 24 people.
Officers from Nottinghamshire Police were called to a flat in Victoria Street, Mansfield, at around 3pm on February 4 after locals reported seeing party banners and a barbecue.
Upon arrival, police found 14 adults and 10 children, celebrating a toddler’s first birthday – with people allegedly travelling from as far away as Birmingham.
The national lockdown rules prohibit household to household mixing.
Officers fined all 14 adults £800 each, amounting to £11,200, with police describing the incident as “very disappointing”.
The Post visited the address yesterday morning. We spoke to a woman and her daughter who admitted hosting the party for family members.
When asked if they had considered whether they were breaking the rules, they replied: “We didn’t think about that. It was our family, it wasn’t a friend or anyone else, it was our family. We know they don’t have coronavirus, because it was our family.”
When asked if they were sure no members of their family had coronavirus they replied “yes”, but then when pressed whether family members had been tested they replied: “They didn’t have symptoms or anything.”
When told that studies have shown around one in three people with
Covid-19 do not show symptoms and could be carriers of the virus, they said: “We didn’t know that.”
Residents in the Victoria Street area have hit out, describing the party as “selfish”.
Michael Melbourne, 74, who lives on the street, told the Post: “They should get fined. I have cancer and my wife is not very good, and we’ve been more or less self isolating together since March 13, 2020.
“It has been horrendous, we have five grandkids and five great-grandchildren and we haven’t seen them all this time.”
Ryan James, 28, a dog walker in the area, said: “It is selfish this far into lockdown. Especially with it being a
first birthday party, the children won’t remember it. It is a party for the adults’ benefit. If more people take the rules seriously now it will make it easier for us to get out of lockdown.”
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cooper, of Nottinghamshire Police, added: “It’s very disappointing to hear that officers had to break up another large gathering in the county.
“It is clear that there is still a minority of people who think the rules do not apply to them or that they can make up their own versions of the guidelines.
“When we attend a party we will firstly encourage people to disperse safely. We appeal to all local residents to comply with the Covid-19 regulations which are there to protect everyone.
“It is the case that people are being issued fines for breaching the regulations, but more importantly the virus is spreading rapidly throughout the community and people are dying.”