Two men have been fined £10,000 each for their part in organising a mass snowball fight in Leeds, which police say was a ‘blatant breach’ of lockdown. 

The unnamed pair, aged 20 and 23, were tracked down after hundreds of people gathered for more than two hours at Woodhouse Moor earlier this month, in scenes that were widely shared on social media. West Midlands Police claim the January 14 incident created ‘a significant and completely unnecessary risk of increasing the spread of the virus’.

The snowball fight provoked widespread condemnation as England endured freezing temperatures and a strict national lockdown, with many blaming students for the event.

A force spokesman said the 23-year-old had already received a fine in November for breaching restrictions through household mixing at an address in the nearby Hyde Park area.

He said both men were interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday in relation to the incident and reported for fixed penalty notices to be issued.

Organising any gathering of more than 30 people is illegal and leaves organisers liable to a £10,000 fine under coronavirus legislation.

Leeds’s police commander Chief Superintendent Damien Miller said: ‘We take absolutely no pleasure in handing out such heavy fines to these two young men but their actions encouraged hundreds of people to be in close proximity to each other, creating a significant and completely unnecessary risk of increasing the spread of the virus.

‘It was a blatant breach of the legislation that is in place to help keep people safe at what remains a critical time for us all.’

He added: ‘The event attracted understandable media attention and widespread public condemnation of all those who irresponsibly took part.

‘That said, it remains clear that the vast majority of people recognise the need for collective responsibility and are continuing to stick with the regulations that are there to protect our families and our communities.

‘We will continue our approach of engaging, explaining and encouraging compliance but we won’t hesitate to enforce the law where people blatantly disregard the rules and put others at risk.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article