MPs order probe into ‘unfair’ Covid fines

MPS and peers have demanded a review of tens of thousands of Covid fines after branding them ‘muddled, discriminatory and unfair’.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights said the system – under which people can be hit with fines of up to £10,000 – risks ‘criminalising the poor over the better-off’.

And they called on ministers to ensure that no coronavirus fine should ever result in a criminal record.

More than 85,000 fixed penalty notices have been issued to people said to have broken Covid-19 laws on restrictions since March last year. These notices allow people to pay a fine instead of facing prosecution and a potential criminal record.

Penalties range from £200 for failing to wear a mask to £10,000 for offences relating to organised gatherings. Committee chairman Harriet Harman said: ‘Swift action to make restrictions effective is essential in the face of this terrible virus.

‘But the Government needs to ensure that rules are clear, enforcement is fair and that mistakes in the system can be rectified. None of that is the case in respect of Covid19 fixed penalty notices.’

She acknowledged the ‘difficult job’ police had in enforcing the rules, but warned there could be a larger number of wrongly issued fines because of a ‘lack of legal clarity’. The report comes after Derbyshire Police fined two women £200 each in January for meeting up five miles from their homes, and said that their takeaway drinks were an illegal ‘picnic’ – but the force has since cancelled the penalties and apologised.

Miss Harman added: ‘This means we’ve got an unfair system with clear evidence that young people, those from certain ethnic minority backgrounds, men, and the most socially deprived, are most at risk.

‘Those who can’t afford to pay face a criminal record along with all the resulting consequences for their future development. The whole process disproportionately hits the less well-off and criminalises the poor over the better off.’

The report also said a significant number of penalties are incorrectly issued. A Crown Prosecution Service review of prosecutions brought under coronavirus regulations that reached open court in February found that 27 per cent were incorrectly charged.

Many more may have been paid by people who were too intimidated by the prospect of a trial to risk contesting their notice via a criminal prosecution.

The report added that regulations related to coronavirus restrictions have changed at least 65 times since March last year, providing ‘obvious challenges for police’.

Miss Harman said: ‘The Government needs to review the pandemic regulations and create new checks and balances to prevent errors and discrimination.’