Five fined $1800 each for COVID breaches

Five people were fined $1800 each after gathering at a house in Shepparton a second time after they had been told to leave by police.

Shepparton Police Sergeant Darren Wagstaff said police were first called to the south Shepparton home at 2.30 am on Saturday, where they found 10 people gathering at the house to mourn the loss of a relative who had died.

The group was given warnings and the five people who did not live there were asked to move on.

Sgt Wagstaff said police were again called to the same house at 10.30 am on Saturday where they found the same group gathered drinking alcohol.

This time, five people — all Shepparton residents — were fined $1800 each for breaching the Victorian chief health officer’s directions.

“It was a deliberate breach,” Sgt Wagstaff said. “They had been given a warning.”

Sgt Wagstaff said other than this incident, people had been well behaved with following the chief health officer’s COVID-19 rules in Shepparton.

He encouraged people to report any breaches of the Victorian COVID-19 rules to police by calling the police assistance line on 131 444.