Rule of 6? Police find 23 students hiding in cupboards at illegal flat party
AFTER the police had been banging on the door for several minutes, two young men answered. Wearing dressing gowns, they seemed surprised, as though to say: Illegal house party? We don’t know what you’re talking about...
But their not-so-subtle attempt to fool the law quickly fell apart when officers found more than 20 party-goers hiding.
Within minutes, the guests – mostly students and mostly dressed to the nines – were huckled out with a warning about defying coronavirus restrictions.
Meanwhile, the two men whose flat it was were hit with a stiffer penalty – an on-the-spot fine.
The illicit get-together, which came to an abrupt end in the early hours of yesterday in Glasgow’s West End, was just one troubling incident that officers were forced to deal with amid a major crackdown on house parties.
The gatherings came hours after the First Minister warned of a resurgence in virus cases and harsher restrictions being imposed.
At her daily briefing on Friday, Nicola Sturgeon specifically called on people to think about whether they should visit other households this weekend. She said: ‘All of us should just be thinking, “Is this journey really necessary, is this social gathering really necessary?” Because for every one that isn’t necessary, that doesn’t go ahead, we have taken away one opportunity for the virus to spread.’
Yet this weekend, officers based at Glasgow’s Partick police station dealt with a number of calls about
Scots flouting Covid-19 rules. The Scottish Mail on Sunday was granted exclusive access to a police unit responding to complaints across Scotland’s biggest city on Friday evening and yesterday morning.
In only four hours, we witnessed officers attend five suspected illegal house parties, all hosted by young people in their 20s.
At the beginning of the night, around 10pm, the evening looked quiet. Once-bustling pubs and restaurants near the police station were empty save for a few people finishing off evening meals and socially-distanced drinkers nursing pints. According to the officers, police had so far only broken up a few outdoor gatherings of young people not socially distancing. None received fixed penalty notices (FPNs) or were arrested as police had chosen to speak to them calmly about why the rules were important.
For Inspector Paul Daley, applying the coronavirus regulations is a process of ‘policing by consent’ and education rather than simply punishing people.
But by 11pm, more and more calls about house parties started to come in on the inspector’s system.
At 11.05pm, PCs McDonald and MacArthur were sent to their first disturbance, at a block of flats in
Govan. A woman in her late 20s answered and disclosed that she and her boyfriend had invited another couple for drinks.
Although in breach of a stringent local lockdown affecting Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire, they did not receive any punishment.
Afterwards, PC MacArthur explained that although the harsher local restrictions were in place – which stop people from visiting any other household indoors – the police could not enforce them as they are not the law, but part of Scottish Government guidance.
The next callout was in a plush modern block near Kelvingrove Art Gallery. A handful of young men were told off for playing music too loudly and reminded that they could not have other households over. A smell of marijuana lingered in the close as officers told the young men that if they were forced to come back, they would confiscate their music equipment. They answered: ‘We’re completely here to comply.’
The next stop was in Dennistoun, in the city’s East End. Although the young homeowner was hesitant to say how many people were in the flat, he admitted he had another household round for drinks.
Police again took the chance to remind the man of the rules. PC MacArthur told him: ‘Because there is another person in the property, we need to remind you of the current guidance. You can’t have anyone in your flat.’ The man, in his early 20s, apologised. Yet, upon leaving the building, it became obvious that it was not the first time people in the tenement had been disturbed.
A handwritten note on the inside of the front door called on residents to behave. As well as asking them to ‘stop inviting your friends over’ it said that there had been 2,499 deaths in Scotland. The note stated: ‘Stop being selfish.’
It was a sentiment no doubt felt by neighbours in a tenement in upmarket Hyndland in the West End, where there was a raucous 25-person party held by students. At 1.15am, screams, shrieking and singing could be heard. In normal times, such a gathering would not have been unusual. But amid a pandemic, it highlighted a complete disregard for the rules. As music blasted from the windows, there was little thought for frontline workers who may have been trying to sleep.
Police buzzed at the main door but the youngsters refused to let them in. Eventually, PC McDonald tracked down the mobile number of the complainer to let them into the building.
PC MacArthur banged on the flat door repeatedly, but no one opened it. Behind the door, the music went off and the students could be heard running around, hushing each other and occasionally giggling.
Finally, as PC MacArthur threatened forced entry, they opened up. Two boys stood there – one appearing to have quickly donned a dressing gown to give the impression he had been asleep. The officers and
PI Daley entered the property, opening doors to cupboards, bedrooms, the kitchen and the bathroom, each time revealing grinning guests. Some chuckled, others demanded to see warrants.
Once all the students were gathered, PC MacArthur gave them a stern talking to, before ordering them to leave.
As the last few revellers slipped away, the two hosts were handed an FPN each for antisocial behaviour. When the tickets were written out, an officer asked: ‘Are you going to bed now?’
One of the boys answered: ‘I’m going to have a house party.’
These final words of outright defiance may epitomise the resentment felt by many over harsher restrictions. Yet it also highlighted the difficulty faced by police tasked with enforcing them.
‘Guidance is you can’t have anyone in your flat’