Fined for rule breaking during "lock down"

Yes, the 'rules' were insane

We took the rules seriously but did have to laugh at the excuse of a local man stopped by the police, having driven to London and back at the height of the lock down. He said he had gone to buy a loaf of bread.

We're in Leicester, 90 miles from London. A 180 miles round trip for a loaf of bread. Such a bare-faced liar! He should have been a politician.

GagaJo, Thank goodness we don't live in a police state where the army can have so much power as in totalitarian countries where people have no personal freedom.
For all that is believed to have been done unlawfully we are so fortunate to still have a political system that can be called out and scrutinised. For all its faults I am so glad I live in this country. But I do think those in the government who broke the rules should be penalised severely. Personally I'm fed up of Bojo and his lackadaisical approach ...as if it were all a big joke and his lying and ducking and diving. The man can't even string a sentence together properly! I hope he gets ousted.

There is no way BJ or Dom are going to be fined. The Met simply won't get involved - something to do with senior jobs, maybe.

62Granny

Just wondering if anybody on GN was reprimanded or even fined during the lockdown either last year or 2020? Or do you know of someone who was, are you going to try and get an apology or their conviction overturned when the report is out?

Conviction overturned? Someone's been watching too much daytime TV!? Convictions and fines will and should stand. Those NOT fined should now be fined.thats how you get a level playing field. It's like saying, "he got away with murder so I should too" n'est ce pas?

I know several grans who had contact with children and grandchildren when it was forbidden. Regular Sunday lunches didn't count!

And we broke the Shielding rules a week before the end and went Out. Off the property for a late walk around the block when no one was about. I trust you can all keep a secret!

Rule-breaking is rule-breaking irrespective of how big the infringement and if the punishment was a fine then that should be across the board. I recall national news being made twice when Rita Ora had large parties in private venues and was given equally large fines to pay - so right. Our Downing Street cronies continued with their parties in the garden and in the basement knowing that high-profile gatherings were attracting high fines - they too should pay them and why exactly we're waiting for the official report is beyond me - when people are told to BYOB that's a party invitation - Johnson is a squirmer who's managed to wriggle out of everything else dirty and sleazy so far, but anybody who seriously spends time debating over whether BYOB is the terminology one uses in a work meeting context is a slate loose. Fines should be levied now and paid - and not from the taxpayers' pocket! There has to be some personal accountability here. Also, just to get this off my chest, Johnson's insidious remarks that people in Downing Street work very hard should be pushed very far down his throat until he realises that lots of people work very hard and have put their lives on the line at the same time rather than being cocooned in the Downing Street environment.

Everyone who was fined, reprimanded should be reimbursed and record cleared after offering an apology. What works for some should work for all. That is of course dependent upon the Gray report findings and Parliament's reaction.

I hope your friend is ok Gagajo. That must have been extremely difficult.
Very hard times for many.
It would have been impossible to get the rules perfect to suit everyone.

I don’t think those who were fined should be reimbursed nor should they get an apology. They broke the law. If they broke the guidelines that is different since the guidelines were only guidance and not legally enforceable.
We had a mini Hitler in our little close. He took photographs of our neighbours whose daughter popped in the house, he complained to the police when his new neighbours moved in next door to him, because they brought one set of their parents to see the new house (the couple were already living with the parents and going to move out to live in their own house.) He enquired of other neighbours as to why our daughter and her family were living in our house for two months prior to their move to New Zealand. The reason was that they had sold their own house and were homeless. We checked the rules and if you were between houses you were allowed to stay in a hotel or another home quite legally. We were not breaking the law, however I would have broken the law if necessary because I would not have left my daughter and her husband and three little children homeless for two months.

Why does the majority of the population consider that rules do not apply to themselves or consider themselves fireproof?

The usual modus operandi is SELF above all.

majority?

Not the majority, surely?

I feel so let down by my fellow country folk.
I agree with GagaJo. Troops on the streets would have been beneficial only because so many refused to keep within the COVID guidance and law. Some going on holiday some driving to family many miles away. Most just going out. We were told we could exercise for a half an hour - obs some can’t tell the time. 2, 3 or 4 hours some of my neighbours were out.
We have so few police with many of them on sick leave. We needed boots on the streets. It is evidenced now that lots couldn’t be trusted to stay at home. The only way if it breaks out again is to bring the troops on the streets to stop
spreading the pandemic.
I remember the schools allowing children to attend if their parents were priority workers. Many many in our local school sent their children to school and did not have front line jobs. We definitely sadly needed the troops.

Surely if those who were fined got refunds, this would also apply to Boris and his cronies as well.

Can't have one rule for us and another for them.

And surely we want Bojo et al to pay the price for their rule breaking. As others have said, two wrongs don't make a right.

Dear God no we didnt need troops.

LovelyLady......it was NEVER the law that you couldn't exercise more than once a day. It was GUIDANCE only.
I for one was out walking before breakfast every day for at least an hour. Never seeing another person. Then shopping in town then a 3 hour walk in the afternoon. Again without seeing anyone else. Sometimes I would pack a sandwich and spend all day on the moors. Im fairly certain that my mental health remained far more intact than people who blindly believed the half hour (non) rule and became angry about others perceived flouting of this GUIDANCE.

The below is from an analysis of the confusion put out deliberately by this government at the start of lockdown.

“The most common example that people think about is exercise once per day, which has never been part of the law. It’s always been the law that you can exercise whenever you want.”

We needed boots on the streets. It is evidenced now that lots couldn’t be trusted to stay at home. The only way if it breaks out again is to bring the troops on the streets to stop spreading the pandemic.

This could well be one of the scariest things I've ever read on GN.

Alegrias1

^We needed boots on the streets. It is evidenced now that lots couldn’t be trusted to stay at home. The only way if it breaks out again is to bring the troops on the streets to stop spreading the pandemic.^

This could well be one of the scariest things I've ever read on GN.

That is very very scary, I have no problem with our trained military helping out where needed, in hospitals, vaccination centres, transportation etc, but not policing our streets, no way never ever ever!!!

I don’t think we needed boots on the streets.

A local woman was fined for driving to walk her dog on the beach here, I can't remember the amount.

I was walking to the beach with my dog when the coastguard stopped me to ask what I was doing, he told me to go home.

Dear God, I hope there are never boots on streets stopping people going out in this country.

I still, strongly believe that the vast majority of people did their very best to abide by the laws and often confused guidance. Please look at the photo of the empty car park I posted earlier. This car park at the seaside in the middle of a a sunny weekend day. It's normally packed but everyone did the right thing. The empty beach when normally it would be full of locals and visitors.

It makes me upset when I read that the law was the law and people who breached it should be fined or moved on by the army. I can't imagine the lack of empathy that must be required to think a mum should be fined for breast feeding her baby on a park bench or that a lonely widower with mental health problems should be told by an armed soldier that he couldn't chat to his pal at the allotment.

Shandy57 I have no idea why the Coastguard would have told you to go home as you were doing exactly the sort of thing the government told us we could do. I walked my dog to the beach every day during lockdown.

I got really fed up of the constant FB pictures a friend posted during lockdown.... of her and various different combinations of her 8 grandchildren...who all live in different houses.
She called it " necessary childcare " but it wasn't at all .
I didn't see any of my grandchildren for months and months. The little babies become walking, talking people while I wasn't there.
Heart breaking but I know I am not rhe only one .

Boots on the streets! Shocking comment. Utterly wrong. Most people did a good job at keeping to the law/rules. I for one saw my grandkids most days as I’ve always cared for them. Without that my daughter and SIL would have not been able to teach in schools. I sometimes feel riled by the comments on this site as so many are incredible rigid in their outlook. I’m 65 so not young but I want a future for my little grandchildren that is normal, not being kept indoors, away from school etc. so many children have had their schooling seriously disrupted due to an illness that hardly affected them. I’m no Covid denier (had it, it was awful) but calling for military on the streets makes me feel quite sick.

Friend's daughter who lives just around the corner from us was on the local fields with her two children. They were flying their kites. After a while the police appeared and told them it was against the rules. They feel sure someone actually called the police. Now if you are being burgled!!!???