Piers Corbyn fined £10,000 for anti-mask rally as police condemn ‘totally unacceptable’ illegal rave of 3,000 people in Wales

Crackdown on unlawful gatherings sees also arrests, fines and thousands of pounds of sound equipment seized across UK

Mr Corbyn claimed 'the government' was behind his fine (PA)

Piers Corbyn says he has been fined £10,000 following an anti-lockdown rally in Trafalgar Square.

The brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told HuffPost UK he believed there was “no justification whatever” for the penalty.

He told the site: “The order for my arrest appears to have come from on high, nothing to do with local police. When I asked the police, they said to me it came from on high.”

Asked what he meant by “on high”, Mr Corbyn said “either the Greater London Authority or the government”.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed a 73-year-old man arrested in Trafalgar Square on Saturday on suspicion of breaking the new Health Protection Regulations 2020 had been handed a £10,000 fine.

It came as police in Wales shut down an illegal rave attended by 3,000 people despite strict new rules limiting mass gatherings.

People are said to have travelled from across the UK to be at the unlicensed event in the small village of Banwen on the edge of the Brecon Beacons on Sunday.

Under new regulations introduced on Friday, police now have the power to slap organisers of unlawful gatherings of more than 30 people with £10,000 fines.

South Wales Police condemned the “totally unacceptable” event before handing the huge fines to two organisers of the rave. Officers were still at the scene late on Sunday evening, where 1,000 people remained.

The force said some music equipment had been removed after a section 63 notice was issued and a number of section 59 orders have been issued for people using their vehicles in an anti-social manner.

Elsewhere, officers in Norfolk made “a number” of arrests and seized sound equipment after closing down an all-night unlicensed music event in Thetford Forest attended by more than 500 people.

Bottles and cans were thrown at officers as they entered the site on Sunday, the force said, adding that a large number of people were still there late into the evening.

Revellers clash with riot police at the scene of a suspected illegal rave in Thetford Forest, Norfolk, 30 August 2020. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

Assistant chief constable Nick Davison described the forest gathering, which began late on Saturday night and which officers believe was due to take place throughout the long weekend, as “extremely disappointing”. He said it was clear the “well-established and planned event” was due to continue into Monday.

And West Yorkshire Police said eight people were fined a total of £10,000 following several parties across Headingley and Burley on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday.

The force said one man was also charged with causing a public nuisance after officers broke up a street party on Wepener Mount, Harehills, on Saturday. Five other people at the party have been fined.

Thousands of pounds worth of equipment has also been seized in the police crackdown over the weekend.

West Yorkshire Police seized what they believe to be around £20,000 of music equipment from a garden at an address in the Chapeltown area of Leeds on Sunday which officers suspect was being kept for an unlicensed music event.

It came after Essex Police said it had also seized thousands of pounds-worth of equipment – but did not give an exact figure – ahead of an unlicensed music event the force said was due to take place in Harlow on Saturday afternoon.

West Midlands Police said it had dealt with about 90 reports from the public about possible breaches of restrictions by Sunday morning “but we’ve not had to use our enforcement powers”.

National vice chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales Che Donald said the legislation should be clearer to allow policing to be “more effective”.

Equipment is seen at Thetford Forest, in Norfolk, after police shut down a suspected illegal rave, 30 August 2020. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

He said: “Our police officers are doing an incredibly difficult job in testing circumstances but as always, they will be ready to deal with anything that may come their way over the long bank holiday weekend.”

Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh also called for clarity around the new legislation which he said would allow officers to “be more forceful clearing the area immediately, close the area down”.

Andy Rhodes, chief constable of Lancashire Constabulary, argued confusion over the guidelines is being used by some as an “excuse” to break the rules.

Home secretary Priti Patel has defended the new rules, which came into force on Friday, saying it represents a crackdown on “the most serious breaches of social distancing restrictions”.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, she said: “We will not allow this breathtakingly selfish behaviour from a senseless minority to jeopardise the progress we have made together.”

The Metropolitan Police force alone has responded to more than 1,000 unlicensed events since the end of June.

Additional reporting by Press Association