Venue Fined £10,000 By UK Govt For Second Breach Of COVID-19 Regulations
The owner of an events venue in Bristol has been fined £10,000 for breaching coronavirus restrictions for a second time after being caught “running his establishment as a nightclub”.
Avon and Somerset Police said dozens of people were found inside the Jack of Diamonds on Thursday, just one week after the owner was issued a £1,000 fixed penalty notice for staying open beyond the 10pm curfew.
That first offence prompted the local council to cease services until 2021 – and the latest breach has been branded by police as “the most blatant show of contempt for the public health crisis” that the force had seen.
Steve Cullen, assistant chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “It’s truly shameful the level of disregard some people continue to show not just for themselves or the law but for other members of society.
“Officers gave multiple warnings to the Jack of Diamonds and issued the owner with a £1,000 fine, which is certainly not an insignificant amount of money, yet this clearly had no impact whatsoever.
He added: “Not only was he hosting an event on Thursday, when officers went to hand him his fixed penalty notice on Friday they found him setting up for a Halloween party.”
The force said £1,000 fines had also been issued to a pub in Taunton and a man in Thornbury who failed to self-isolate after being alerted by Test and Trace.
Several people also received £200 fines following house parties in Weston-super-Mare and West Huntspill over the weekend – and eight people have been arrested in connection with a rave attended by 700 in Yate on Saturday.
