Van driver hit with huge court bill after refusing to wear a face mask

A DERBY man who said that he did not believe in wearing a face mask must pay more than £2,000 in fines and costs.

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

Sapsford initially told PC Adrian Pegg “I don’t believe in it, mate” when asked why he was not wearing a face covering.

He 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 a note of the registration number of the man’s turquoise van and wrote: “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.”

Police sent a £200 fine to Sapsford’s home address, 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.