Woman fined £200 for fake photo claim at QA
Posts sparked ‘angst’ in city
POLICE have warned they will swiftly act on ‘ blatant breaches’ of lockdown rules after officers fined a woman £200 for roaming hospital corridors taking photos.
Officers acted after posts by an account on Facebook named Hannah Dean showed corridors Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham and made false claims the site was empty. She posted similar videos about St Richard’s in Chichester and Southampton General Hospital.
In truth, the QA is treating more patients with Covid than it did at the in the first peak last spring.
Mark Cubbon, who leads the NHS trust running the hospital, previously hit out ‘disrespectful’ posts when his staff were working flat out.
But the Hannah Dean account has continued to post videos of hospitals.
The latest – posted today but allegedly from January 2 – is of Farnborough hospital.
A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: ‘Officers investigating reports of an individual attending local hospitals, including Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, and taking photos in breach of current Covid19 regulations have issued a fixed penalty notice. A £200 fixed penalty notice has been issued to a 30-year-old woman under current Health Protection Regulations.
‘Our officers will continue to engage, explain and encourage the public around the Covid-19 regulations before taking enforcement action for blatant breaches of the regulations. This may be the case if there is clear evidence that an individual or group of individuals are knowingly flouting the new regulations.
‘This will especially apply for scenarios such as larger house parties, repeat offenders or locations where we have evidence of a previous failure to adhere to restrictions.’
The spokeswoman added: ‘We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of our colleagues across the NHS who have been working extremely hard throughout the ongoing pandemic. We are incredibly grateful for their continued efforts in fighting Covid-19 and keeping us all safe.’
Posting on Facebook, a Portsmouth police sergeant said: ‘These actions have caused angst in the community, and have prompted a number of calls to us reporting the posts. We have identified the source of the posts and have today issued a fixed penalty notice to the person responsible.’