More than a thousand people in Greater Manchester issued with Covid-19 fines

Greater Manchester Police has issued fines to more than a thousand people for breaking coronavirus rules since the end of the summer – with men and young people the worst offenders.

Since 7 August, the force has handed out 1,224 fixed penalty notice for breaches of the national Covid-19 restrictions.

These have included seven £10,000 penalties for large events, including unauthorised wedding celebrations and house parties.

At the beginning of this month police discovered a party at a warehouse in Salford, which turned out to be a wedding event with around 200 people, caterers, musicians, sound equipment and even an MC.

Almost half of all the fines issued by GMP were made between 10 October and 11 November, with 570 penalties issued across the four weeks.

Men are by far the biggest offenders, being handed 729 penalties since August, compared with 495 given to women, the force told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The figures also reveal that young people are also much more likely to be penalised for breaking coronavirus rules than older people – reflecting action GMP took against students following their return to universities.

Of all the fines handed out, 505 were given to people aged between 18 and 24, and 341 to residents between 25 and 34.

This compares to 147 for people aged between 45 and 54, and just 58 for those over 55-years-old.

The majority of fixed penalties were issued to people involved in an indoor or outdoor gathering of more than two people.

These fines – which start at £200 for a first offence, reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days – were handed out 915 times between 7 August and 11 November.

A further 26 penalties were issued for people gathering in groups bigger than 30, the maximum number allowed at funerals.

There were also 40 fines handed to people failing to self-isolate after returning from abroad – a minimum £1,000 penalty.

And 11 fixed penalty notices were handed to premises remaining open after the 10pm curfew.

There were also seven £10k fines issued for ‘unlicensed music events’.

It was revealed last week that coronavirus lockdown rule-breakers in the region with unpaid fines could be hauled before a special court.

Baroness Beverley Hughes, deputy mayor of the city-region, has maintained that fixed penalty notices are the best deterrent for breaching Covid-19 regulations.

Speaking at the Mayoral weekly press conference on Wednesday, Baroness Hughes said: “Certainly Greater Manchester police will continue to issue £10k fines if the circumstances demand it.”

She added that people had 28 days after a fine was issued in which to pay it.

“We will be taking stock when that period ends to see if they have been paid or not,” Baroness Hughes said.

Charlotte Green, Local Democracy Reporter