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Call for Covid fines amnesty as more people borrow Boris Johnson’s ‘I didn’t realise’ excuse

Over 100,000 people have been fined for breaching various coronavirus regulations - Hollie Adams/Getty Images Europe
Over 100,000 people have been fined for breaching various coronavirus regulations - Hollie Adams/Getty Images Europe

People who “did not realise” they were breaking the law have been fined for Covid rule breaches, it has emerged amid calls for an amnesty on fines in the wake of “partygate”.

More than 100,000 people have been fined for breaching various Covid regulations since March 2020, including 18,000 who received penalties for meeting outdoors during the pandemic, as Boris Johnson did.

It comes amid growing pressure on Mr Johnson for attending a gathering in the garden of Number 10 in May 2020, which he has defended by claiming no one told him it was against the rules.

It is one of a series of Downing Street parties which have led those fined for breaching strict lockdowns demanding they should have their penalties cancelled or refunded.

Now court documents have revealed that Mr Johnson is not the only one to plead ignorance over the rules.

Blower cartoon
Blower cartoon

Nancy Rush, a London estate agent, was fined £250 despite telling magistrates that she “didn’t realise” her friend was having a party when she went to her home to drop off a birthday card.

“I didn’t realise there would be other people present. I did not enter the property,” she said in a statement detailing her mitigating circumstances as she apologies for the “unintentional” breach.

Other court documents, unearthed by the Evening Standard, show that a 66-year-old man who said he was going to his allotment to collect vegetables was fined £100 after police concluded that he was meeting friends outdoors.

The man, from south London, said he “did not wish to break the law” and that as a pensioner he was already “struggling to pay my way”.

Nigel Ince, a landlord, was also handed a £1,390 court bill after people were standing drinking in his central London pub, The Old Red Lion, despite him telling officers he did not realise that was against the rules.

Mr Ince had told police he believed the only requirement was that they had ordered a “substantial meal” and he was serving scotch eggs as a Government minister had said this would suffice.

The revelations led to calls for the Government to cancel or refund fines issued for breaches of Covid regulations.

‘It is double standards’

Figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show that up until October last year, 118,438 fixed penalty notices were issued in England and Wales for breaching virus restrictions.

Vianna McKenzie-Bramble, who was fined £12,000 for hosting a 27th birthday party with 40 people on the day of Prince Philip’s funeral, just hours after Downing Street staff held two boozy parties, backed calls for an amnesty.

“Has Boris Johnson paid a fine?” she asked. “If he makes the rules and breaks the rules, then why should everyone else pay and not him? It is really not fair – it is double standards.”

Kieron McArdle, 50, has demanded that the Government refund him the £100 he was fined for having two friends to sit with him in his garden on his birthday last March.

Callum Harrison, 23, who was fined £100 for attending a 10-person birthday gathering in October 2020, said everyone in his position should get their money back in light of the actions of those working in Number 10.