4,000 Covid lockdown fines are dropped by Met Police

About 4,000 Covid fines handed out by the Metropolitan police during the pandemic were abandoned before cases were brought to court.

The Met used the emergency laws more than any other force in the past two years, issuing over 16,500 fixed penalty notices to Londoners suspected of attending illegal gatherings, breaking lockdown rules, not wearing a mask or ignoring the need to self-isolate.

Scotland Yard said 56 per cent of the fines were paid up front, leaving several thousand people at risk of criminal prosecution.

However, about 4,000 fines were later dropped instead of being taken to court, including when the Met decided there may have been a “reasonable excuse” for not adhering to rules.

The figures were revealed as the Met’s use of the single justice procedure — a behind-closed-doors court process — to prosecute Covid offences which were taken to court reached a conclusion last month. About 3,000 cases have been pursued by the force, ending in nearly £2 million in court-ordered fines.

Among the last prosecutions initiated by the Met were six people at the vigil for murder victim Sarah Everard, with at least three poised to fight the charges.

In a statement to the Evening Standard, the Met said all Covid fixed penalties which were not paid underwent an “in-depth review” of the evidence before being considered for prosecution in the Single Justice Procedure.

“Since restrictions were put in place, the Met sent over 16,500 FPNs for breaches of COVID-19 regulations to the ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) for processing which resulted in 56 per cent being paid”, it said.

“Officers issued referrals for FPNs as they felt appropriate at the time. The referrals underwent an initial check by the Met before being sent to ACRO for processing as FPNs.

“Over a sixteen-month period, ACRO returned a quantity of unpaid FPNs to the Met.

“The Met then undertook an in-depth review of those particular referrals, which resulted in around 4000 referrals being withdrawn for various reasons such as the activity carried out by the person was deemed to meet the threshold of being a ‘reasonable excuse’ or the Health Protection (Coronavirus, restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 offence has been charged alongside a substantive offence and dual charging is inappropriate.

“The Met then notified ACRO that these referrals were not being pursued and ACRO informed the person concerned that there was no further action.”

The force, which issued 126 FPNs over the Downing Street Partygate scandal, said SJP courts – which have less public scrutiny than normal magistrates court hearings – could still be used to prosecute Covid offences in the future if needed. The last full day of hearings was June 15, it said.

Dozens of criminal cases where defendants have denied committing offences are still in London’s justice system, with hearings and trials in open court yet to take place.

Among the last of the Met’s SJP prosecutions involved ten people fined more than £6,000 in total for a racy party at a hired apartment in Bateman Street, Soho on January 30, 2021.

“A female in white lingerie opened the door”, PC Martina Valaskova told Westminster magistrates court. “As officers gained access, I have noticed another ten females in the same attire.”

Kyle Davies, 24, from Clapham, Grace Hisep, 19, and Molly Power, 25, both from Isleworth, Chyna Mayers, 24, from Stretford, Manchester, Paige Milan, 23, from Clapton, east London, Vanessa Miremba, 24, of Wembley, Imane Simpson, 26, of Norwood, southeast London, and Rochelle Valentine, 24, from Hampton, were all fined £660 each, and ordered to pay a £66 victim surcharge and £100 in costs.

Chantai Valentine-Quain, 20, of Hampton, was convicted of the same offence and fined £800, together with an £80 victim surcharge and £100 in costs.

Blue Stansfield, 22, of Acton, west London, was the only defendant to plead guilty, and she was issued a £200 fine with £90 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

In a separate case, Demi Bingham was fined £1,000 for throwing herself a 21^st birthday party at her Greenwich home in April 2021, when police say they found “a large group of people inside drinking alcohol and dancing to music.”

Attorney General Suella Braverman’s office raised concerns at the start of the pandemic about Covid prosecutions taking place in the Single Justice Procedure, amid fears of people being mistakenly charged and the process being criticised for not being transparent.