Yahoo News Police confront 'covidiots' having sit-down meal in street and weightlifting in park
Police have blasted “covidiots” flouting UK lockdown rules during the coronavirus epidemic.
West Midlands Police released bodycam footage of officers confronting a family caught tucking into a huge feast on their driveway, while elsewhere two friends were filmed weightlifting and boxing in a park.
One brazen family were approached on their driveway in Birmingham as they tucked into a feast just inches from a public footpath on Good Friday (April 10).
A police patrol pulled up outside the mid-terraced home and found the family eating kebabs and chips around dining tables set out especially.
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An officer asks the group: “What’s going on, guys? You need to put all this away.
“Everyone is meant to be in their houses. What’s going on here then?”
A man wearing shorts and T-shirt immediately apologised, before telling the officers: “I will put this in the house.”
In another clip, a female officer approaches two men who had taken a barbell, weights and boxing gloves into a park.
She tells them: “Guys, I know you’ve come out to exercise but if you’ve got equipment like you’ve got with you, you can do that at home – you don’t need to be in the park to do it.”
A total of 14,829 deaths as a result of coronavirus had been recorded in Britain by Monday afternoon.
In another example of covidiots breaking lockdown rules, three young men met to drink alcohol outside a Tesco supermarket in Birmingham city centre.
A male officer says: “Don’t sit down mate, whatever you do, don’t sit down, put your booze away. Get home.
“I’m guessing you know what the strong advice is? It’s law.”
More than 1,429 people have died from COVID-19 in the West Midlands so far, making it the worst-hit area outside of London.
West Midlands Police say patrols have been targeting people breaking the rules after receiving tip-offs from members of the public online.
A spokesperson said: “Where we’ve had reports online of people not following the rules, we’ve used this information to target our patrols.”
The force’s Sgt Dave Taylor said: “To police this, which is something we’ve never had to do before, we’re trying to use a commonsense approach with people.”
On Monday, Oxford University professor Carl Heneghan suggested that long-term lockdown could do more damage than coronavirus itself.
