£2k fine for driver who ‘didn’t believe in face masks’

MOTORIST ALSO CLAIMED HE HAD AN EXEMPTION DUE TO BEING DEAF IN ONE EAR, WHEN CHALLENGED BY POLICE

A MAN must pay more than £2,000 in fines and costs after saying that he did not believe in wearing a face mask.

Michael Sapsford, 36, was questioned by police after being seen inside the BP petrol station off the southbound A38 at Willington paying for fuel without a face covering.

When asked why he was not wearing a face covering by PC Adrian Pegg, he said: “I don’t believe in it, mate”.

He then told PC Pegg that he was deaf in one ear “so he was exempt” from having to wear a mask.

When asked if he could provide an exemption certificate, Sapsford said he did not have to. He then paid for his fuel and left the premises.

PC Pegg made note of the registration number of Sapsford’s turquoise transit van, saying: “Although the male stated that he was deaf in one ear, he had no difficulty understanding me although I was wearing a mask.

“There is also no reason to exempt a person from wearing a mask if they are deaf as it does not impede them.”

The police sent a £200 fine to Sapsford’s home, in Collis Close, Allenton, Derby, which he did not pay.

At a closed-door hearing at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court on October 7, 2021, Sapsford was given an increased fine of £1,760, along with a victim surcharge of £176 and costs of £85.

This case is among hundreds which can now be shared after a large number of court documents were released to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

These closed-door hearings, dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure, relate to people who were handed Covid fines and did not pay them, resulting in their cases heading to court.

Police reports are the only evidence used in the case against each of the defendants.