Coronavirus: Organiser of music event with hundreds of people fined £10,000 for breaking restrictions

Hostile crowds turn violent towards police

A man has been fined £10,000 for secretly organising an unlicensed music event with hundreds of people, in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.  

Police were met with hostility and violence when they arrived to shut down the event in south Gloucestershire.

Eight people, aged 17 to 33, were arrested for offences including violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh condemned the organisers as “reckless” for staging the event during the pandemic, and their behaviour as “selfish and disgraceful”.

Officers were first alerted to the event, at an industrial warehouse in Yate, at 10.35pm on Saturday, just days before a second national lockdown was due to begin.  

They closed nearby roads throughout the night to prevent more people arriving, and installed a secure cordon around the site, where up to 700 people had gathered.

Officers worked throughout the following day to shut down the event, seized sound equipment and cleared the area.  

They arrested a man in his 30s who was “appearing to clear away music equipment” on suspicion of organising the event.

Mr Marsh said: “This was a blatant breach of the current Covid-19 regulations, and issuing the maximum possible fine under that legislation shows our robust approach to enforcing the law against those who selfishly fail to show any personal or collective responsibility when it comes to the scenes witnessed over the weekend.

“It is hard to adequately explain how reckless it was to organise an unlicensed music event during the midst of a pandemic that has claimed so many lives. We are facing a moment in this pandemic when scientists and medics are warning of the grave risks and consequences of not controlling the virus.  

“Millions of people across the country are making sacrifices every day to protect the NHS, while key workers are doing shifts around the clock to help their communities. Yet those involved in this event acted criminally and disgracefully, with no thought for anyone other than themselves.”

The event was deliberately organised in secret with complete disregard to the current situation the country is facing, Mr Marsh said.

“The shocking footage we’re releasing today shows the courage of those officers who were simply going about their duties to keep people safe.”  

He paid tribute to the officers involved and said the force had set up an investigation team to take more statements and review the footage captured by officers’ body cameras.

“This work will continue apace as we seek to bring those responsible to justice,” he said, and appealed for more information or footage.