Expulsion threat to students who party on during lockdown
STUDENTS in Nottingham who have breached coronavirus rules could face being suspended.
Nottingham’s universities have spoken out after a weekend of mass house parties and fines being issued by police to reckless students.
Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police, Craig Guildford, called for universities to expel students as a strong deterrent.
Officers handed out 83 fines in one weekend, mainly to students, for organising house parties and large gatherings and a group of students were also seen fleeing police wearing fancy dress on Saturday.
It comes after four Nottingham Trent University students were fined £40,000 for breaching lockdown rules.
A Nottingham Trent University spokesperson said in the most serious cases, students can be excluded after their case is heard by a misconduct panel.
They said: “The university takes all allegations of student misconduct extremely seriously, and we work closely with Nottinghamshire Police to investigate any incidents reported to us as matter of urgency.
“We have made clear to our students that they – like everyone – have a crucial role to play in complying with the rules and limiting the spread of this virus.
“While the vast majority of our students always follow the rules, our code of behaviour was updated to reflect the fact that students need to comply with the restrictions, and where we have evidence of them not doing so there will be consequences under our disciplinary processes.
“We have deployed extra security patrols across our halls of residence and in the community to ensure compliance.
“We have already issued warnings and fines to students, and we have referred some cases to serious misconduct panels which could result in more serious outcomes, up to and including exclusion.
“We will not hesitate to do so again.”
A University of Nottingham spokesperson said: “The majority of our 35,000 students are following the rules, however, under our student Code of Conduct there are serious consequences for any student who breaches the restrictions, including disciplinary action, fines and campus sanctions – in addition to police fines.
“The university takes swift and proportionate disciplinary action when students are found to have wilfully breached Covid restrictions.
“In the most serious cases, students will be fast-tracked to the highest levels of our process where suspension and exclusion are potential outcomes.”
Mr Guildford, who called the events of the weekend “unbelievable”, said: “Sadly many of the incidents we attended overnight again were student parties.
“We know that both universities have been trying to help get the message across to students but for some, it doesn’t seem to be getting through.”