Coronavirus UK: Police checkpoints stop non-essential journeys

Home Office reveals new powers to tackle people flouting the coronavirus lockdown 

  • Up to two years in prison if you cough deliberately on someone after spate of attacks on police and emergency service workers
  • People who continue to flout coronavirus lockdown rules will be breaking the law and can be arrested as part of new enforcement powers announced by the Home Office.
  • Officers can also tell them to go home, leave or disperse an area and ensure parents are taking necessary steps to stop their children breaking the law.
  • Those who refuse to comply could be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £60, which will be lowered to £30 if paid within 14 days.
  • Second-time offenders could be issued a fixed penalty notice of £120, doubling on each further repeat offence.
  • Those who do not pay the penalty can be taken to court, with magistrates able to impose fines up to £1,000 or more; 

 

Police enforcing the UK’s unprecedented coronavirus lockdown have today set up road blocks and even chased dog walkers and ramblers with a drone as it emerged at least one million Britons are flouting the rules imposed to save lives and ease pressure on the NHS.

Officers were this afternoon given the powers to arrest people who go on ‘non essential’ journeys and ignore Boris Johnson’s plea to ‘stay at home’ for the next three weeks. 

Those who defy tough restrictions on movement could be hit with a £60 fine initially and £120 for a second offence reaching £1,000-plus for repeat offenders, the Home Office warned today.

After a spate of coughing and spitting attacks on police officers and paramedics, deliberately spreading coronavirus will now be treated as a serious assault punishable with a jail term of up to two years. 

As the sweeping new powers emerged Derbyshire Police took the extraordinary step of using one of its drones to film dog walkers, ramblers and a group posing for Instagram pictures on a cliff top at sunset last night.

Using the unmanned aircraft they also gathered number plates from parked cars and traced their owners to their homes.  

Tweeting the aerial footage the force made it clear that people could be fined or even arrested for ‘not essential’ visits to the countryside, accusing groups of moving a road block made of rocks to trespass in the national park.

A spokesman said: ‘Travelling to remote areas of the #PeakDistrict for your exercise is not essential travel. PLEASE, #StayHomeSaveLives’.

Their social warning added: ‘Some number plates were coming back to keepers in Sheffield, so we know that people are travelling to visit these areas. Daily exercise should be taken locally to your home. Under government guidance all travel is limited to essential travel only’. 

But some believe the force is going too far. One senior Tory MP told MailOnline: Probably what will happen is a quiet word from the policing minister to the Chief Constable of Derbyshire saying: ‘’can you ease off here, we don’t want to give you a haranguing, but we have got enough to worry about without you telling off people who are just taking their dog for a walk.’’’

The MP added the government was in a difficult position where looser advice saying people could be ‘reasonable’ would risk being exploited by ‘idiots’. 

On Tyneside, Northumbria Police broke up a football match because only two people can gather together for the next three weeks. While North Yorkshire Police and Devon and Cornwall Police said they will now be using unannounced checkpoints to stop vehicles and order drivers to divulge details of their journeys and decide if they can continue on.

Police patrols have also started to stop train passengers in cities across the UK including Swansea and London to make sure their travel is ‘essential’ and maintain two-metre social distancing. 

Experts have said the enforcement will divert officers from investigating other crimes, but forces including the Met insist it can form part of their usual patrol duties. 

And as Britain entered its third day of lockdown, it also emerged: 

  • Chancellor Rishi Sunak will finally today unveil a coronavirus bailout for millions of stricken self-employed workers;
  • One of the government’s top advisers said the UK’s epidemic will get worse before it gets better but could peak by Easter;
  • Dyson has been handed an order of 10,000 ventilators from the Government – as long as the machines pass early tests; 
  • Retailer Boots begged people not to turn up demanding coronavirus tests because it has yet to receive any;
  • Royal aides tried to trace anyone Prince Charles has met in the last fortnight after he tested positive for the disease;
  • The latest coronavirus figures for the UK showed 9,529 positive tests and a death toll of 465;

Derbyshire Police sent up their drone and filmed people on ‘not essential’ trips to the Peak District including people posinf for an ‘Instagram snap’

The force says that people should not be heading to the Peak District to admire the sunset while Britain is in lockdown

The force says that people should not be heading to the Peak District to admire the sunset while Britain is in lockdown

Police in Devon have started to check whether drivers are on essential journeys or if they are flouting the government's plea to stay at home

Police in Devon have started to check whether drivers are on essential journeys or if they are flouting the government’s plea to stay at home

A police officer is pictured directing traffic at a checkpoint in Plymouth today. All non-essential travel has been banned by the government

A police officer is pictured directing traffic at a checkpoint in Plymouth today. All non-essential travel has been banned by the government  

Police are today being told how to disperse groups of people. Pictured is a PCSO breaking up a game of football between youths in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

Police are today being told how to disperse groups of people. Pictured is a PCSO breaking up a game of football between youths in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

A survey for ITV's Peston programme found millions of people are not complying with the government's lockdown measures

A survey for ITV’s Peston programme found millions of people are not complying with the government’s lockdown measures

The drone surveillance and travel checks emerged as the Home Office revealed its new powers for police to enforce the coronavirus lockdown as a minority of Britons flouted the rules by holding house parties, community barbecues and other events of more than one person.

Officers will also have the powers force people to go home if they fail to listen to police direction, and will be fined £60 – reduced to £30 if paid within a fortnight. For second offences it will rise to £120 and will doubling each time for further offences. The worst culprits will be taken to court and face fines of £1,000 or more.   

The use of travel checks sparked fierce criticism from civil liberties groups with police officers now seemingly being tasked with deciding how important someone’s journey is amid reports of dog walkers being told to go home after driving to a public space for exercise and of builders being stopped from driving to a job. 

Nicola Sturgeon appeared to pre-empt the Home Office’s official announcement as she set out her plans for police in Scotland at lunchtime which will see people who refuse to adhere to the ban on groups ‘made to return home’.

It is not the first time the Scottish First Minister has acted before the UK government on a coronavirus issue after she did the same on banning large gatherings to ease pressure on emergency services and on school closures. 

Members of the public have been urged by Andy Cooke, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, to report large gatherings as the authorities move to enforce the Prime Ministers ‘stay at home’ message. 

Mr Cooke said he would ‘expect’ people to report large groups but not to bother officers if it is ‘two or three people stood at the end of the road’. 

The apparent need for the new police powers to break up gatherings has been illustrated by reports of officers being called to friends having barbecues, house parties and games of football. 

It came as a new poll conducted for ITV’s Peston programme suggested almost six million people across the UK are continuing to go about their daily lives as normal amid fears spring sunshine could tempt even more to flout the rules. 

Mr Johnson’s lockdown means people should only leave their home for food, medicine, exercise or to go to work if it is ‘absolutely necessary’. Group gatherings of more than two people have also been banned. 

But the survey found seven per cent of Britons are still going out to see friends, eight per cent are doing ‘non-essential shopping’ and five per cent are not washing their hands more than they normally would.

Meanwhile, six per cent of people – approximately three million – are continuing to hug others and shake hands, despite warnings this will increase the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus.   

The government expects the ‘overwhelming majority’ of people to stick to the lockdown measures but it is bolstering police powers to ensure officers have the tools they need to enforce the rules amid concerns some people could continue to meet in groups.

North Yorkshire Police said its officers will now be stopping motorists to ask them where they are going, why they are going there, and reminding them of the message to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker, said: ‘The new and significant restrictions announced by the Prime Minister on Monday evening spell out very clearly what each and every one of us must do to save lives. The message is clear and the warning stark. Stay at home, save lives.

‘These are the lives of the people we know and love. Our partners, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents.

Coronavirus tracker app suggests more than six million people in UK could be infected

An app tracking people’s coronavirus symptoms in their own homes has revealed that more than 6.6million people in the UK could have had the infection already.

The COVID Symptom Tracker, created by scientists at King’s College London, was downloaded around 650,000 times in the first 24 hours after it launched on Tuesday.

By today it had been signed up to by 1.25million people and has become the third most popular download in the UK’s App Store, with some 50,000 new users per hour.

Analysis of the first 650,000 users found that 10 per cent of them have had the symptoms of the coronavirus, which causes fever, coughing and tiredness.

Health authorities in the UK aren’t testing anyone for the virus unless they’re in hospital so the app could be one of the clearest pictures of how many people are ill.

If its infection rate of one in every 10 people is applied to the UK’s population of 66million, that could mean 6.6m or more have already had the illness which has sent the world into hiding.

‘You may never be in such a position again where your simple actions will lead directly to saving lives.’

The force said the checkpoints will be unannounced and could appear anywhere any time with other constabularies expected to now follow suit. 

Meanwhile, Avon and Somerset Police has apparently told people they are not allowed to drive anywhere to walk dogs or exercise due to the government’s ban on all non-essential travel.  

Officers from the force were reportedly handing out leaflets to dog walkers stating that ‘the government restrictions currently in place do not permit you to use your vehicle to travel to this location to exercise’. 

The document said government guidance stated people can exercise outside once a day and that ‘you should not be driving to a location away from home to carry this out’. 

A Facebook user posted a picture of the leaflet and said: ‘I wasn’t aware that you couldn’t drive somewhere to walk dogs. 

‘My husband was given this by police officers at Quarts Moor and told they hoped they wouldn’t see him up there again.’

The dog walker advice is likely to spark confusion given that many who drive to a location to walk their pet will not come into any contact with another person. 

But the government is likely to argue that its ban on all but essential travel could not be clearer. 

Derbyshire Police has also issued a plea to people not to visit the Peak District during the lockdown as it posted drone footage on Twitter of people parking their cars and going for a walk. 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak to unveil big bailout for self-employed today

Rishi Sunak will finally unveil a coronavirus bailout for millions of stricken self-employed workers today – with signs they could get cash payments of up to £1,700 a month.

A week after announcing a massive rescue package for employees, the Chancellor is set to go further to stop those who work for themselves and in the ‘gig’ economy being plunged into poverty by the government’s ‘social distancing’ lockdown.  

Boris Johnson said yesterday that the new proposals will offer ‘parity’ with the eye-watering measures already brought forward to protect other parts of the workforce.

There is speculation that around two million workers could benefit, potentially getting 80 per cent of the net income they declared on previous tax returns, up to a limit of £1,700 a month.  

Unlike the bailout for employees, which is being channelled through businesses in grants, the government money would go directly to individuals.

The help is also expected to be means-tested, with those earning over £50,000 not covered to avoid the system being exploited.   

The force said in the video: ‘Walking your dog in the Peak District: Not essential.’ 

A spokeswoman for the Big Brother Watch civil liberties group said: ‘Members of the public must follow the government’s advice to protect themselves and others. It’s understandable why police are dispersing parties and barbecues but demanding drivers give journey details at road checkpoints is over-the-top. 

‘It’s not at all clear what police powers are being used to do this. It’s critical we protect public health and critical we protect basic democratic norms too. Arbitrary policing will not help the country to fight this pandemic.’

It came as Mr Cooke, speaking on his first day back at work after contracting the virus himself, said members of the public needed to be ‘sensible’ when it came to reporting gatherings of people.

Asked what people should do if they see a gathering of dozens of people, he told The Times: ‘We would expect people to call us … [but] would urge them to be sensible. 

‘When you’ve got two or three people stood at the end of the road we don’t need to be told.

‘The great thing is we police by consent. Staff have been instructed to encourage people, convince people, interact with people. The use of the powers will be very much a last resort.’

Mr Cooke said 12 per cent of his staff were currently off sick or self-isolating – a figure likely to be replicated at other forces across the country, illustrating the resourcing challenge the lockdown could present. 

Police broke up a house party in Coventry in the early hours of this morning where a dozen revellers were flouting the ban on social gatherings of more than two people. Eight of them were ‘removed’ and sent home.

That incident followed West Midlands Police neighbourhood officers having to disperse a crowd of 20 people who had gathered for a barbecue in the Foleshill area of the same city earlier this week on Tuesday. 

Police have already started to adopt their own methods for dispersing groups with Manchester police reportedly using sirens and a loud hailer while officers in Leicester have been using drones.

West Midlands Police echoed a similar sentiment to Mr Cooke and said people should only ‘advise us if there are large scale breaches with large numbers of people congregating’. 

Anthony Stansfeld, the police and crime commissioner in Thames Valley, reportedly said he did not think ‘snitching to the police’ was necessary. He said it should only take place in the ‘most extreme circumstances’.   

Joggers go for a run at a park in London today in the morning sunshine as the Prime Minister warned Britons to stay at home

Joggers go for a run at a park in London today in the morning sunshine as the Prime Minister warned Britons to stay at home

A lady runs through daffodils at Sefton Park in Liverpool after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a UK lockdown

A lady runs through daffodils at Sefton Park in Liverpool after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a UK lockdown

People formed a queue outside a Morrisons supermarket in Canning Town, East London, first thing this morning

People formed a queue outside a Morrisons supermarket in Canning Town, East London, first thing this morning 

It came as the government was believed to be planning to hand police in England the power to use force to make people go home during the lockdown.

More details of the approach officers will be asked to take are expected to be announced later today but it is thought they will be told to follow a ‘four point’ plan. 

That plan will likely see them initially engage with people who are outside, then explain to them the terms of the lockdown, then encourage them to go home. 

Only then would they move onto enforcement action, starting with imposing a fine. 

According to The Guardian, the government could allow the police to use reasonable force as a last resort if people do not comply with the fine. 

Ms Sturgeon announced something similar for police in Scotland. 

‘It will now be the rule that you should only be outside for a reasonable purpose, buying food or essential household or medical supplies, travelling to or carrying out essential work, exercising once a day or providing care or assistance to others,’ she said at a lunchtime press conference.

‘And those found not to be acting in line with the regulations can be directed to return home or made to return home.

‘They could also be subject to prohibition notices and if people don’t follow prohibition notices or instructions to return home they could be liable to an on the spot fine and ultimately if necessary prosecuted.’ 

Fines will start at £30 but Downing Street has said it will increase it significantly if it proves to be an inadequate deterrent. 

Non-payment of the fine will lead to a court appearance and a criminal record. People will have 14 days to pay. 

It is thought children in groups could be taken home to their parents but it is unclear whether they would be fined and whether it would be up to their parents to pay. 

Concerns have been expressed about what enforcing the lockdown could mean for the relationship between the police and the public. 

Stephen White, acting police and crime commissioner for Durham, said: ‘We don’t want to have a society when you step out the door there is a cop saying: ‘Where are you going?”

Mr White said the application of the new powers was going to be a ‘minefield’ as he asked on what grounds fines would be issued and how the use of the powers would be monitored.  

Government adviser says UK coronavirus epidemic could peak by Easter

One of the government’s top coronavirus advisors said the UK’s epidemic will get worse before it gets better but the peak of it could pass by Easter.

Professor Neil Ferguson added that around a third of people dying from the disease could be considered healthy.

But he believes the NHS will now be able to cope with the outbreak thanks to the nationwide lockdown that was put in place this week. 

He told the BBC: ‘All I would say is, with the lockdown now in place, those numbers are going to start to plateau. The challenge we have is there’s a lag.

‘The people being admitted to hospital right now were infected a week, two weeks, even sometimes three weeks ago, so without doubt the next one [or] two weeks are going to be very difficult.’  

Sunny spring weather which has been forecast for the next few days has sparked warnings that people must comply with the lockdown.

Weather forecasters said Britons can enjoy the sunshine and temperatures over 60F but only for their permitted daily exercise. 

Forecasters said temperatures could hit 17C (63F) today. Forecaster Bonnie Diamond told MailOnline that the Met Office is reiterating government advice and urging people to stay indoors. 

She said: ‘Spring is in the air and there is plenty of sunshine – in different times we would have enjoyed this more than were able to at the moment.  

‘But we are reiterating advice from NHS England and the government – have your exercise once a day safely – it is nice and it is sunny and we can enjoy that exercise, but please practise safe social distancing.’ 

On the forecast, she said: ‘It’s been a lovely week for England and Wales. Today is generally cloudy across Scotland and Northern Ireland to begin with. But for all of England and Wales, it will be another bright and sunny day with maximum temperatures of 16C or 17C.

‘Tomorrow will be a similar story – some cloud around for Northern Ireland and central and southern Scotland but otherwise bright and sunny with temperatures of 13C or 14C – another bright sunny spring day.

Last night, a shock poll conducted for ITV’s Peston programme found seven per cent of Britons are still going out to see friends, eight per cent are doing ‘non-essential shopping’ and five percent have not started washing their hands more.

The survey also showed six per cent are continuing to hug others and shake hands and some 11 per cent of people are still going to public places. 

An estimated 33 per cent are stockpiling and ignoring pleas from supermarkets to save goods for the elderly, vulnerable and NHS workers.

A further eight per cent (5.8 million) are continuing to shop for goods when not absolutely necessary and seven per cent are meeting people outside of the immediate family they are living with, according to the JL Partners survey.    

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