Local Police have fined a lady for going to the Post Office with an EBay parcel

mgdavid

soolin said:

In the windows case the people drove over 200 miles to collect something in person , I would hope no eBay seller would have to drive 200 to their closest mail drop centre or PO. 

Yes they drove from the Liverpool area down to the midlands, ISTR it was Coventry, and return. What actually drew the police' attention was that because of the size and shape of the load, the driver's wife was sitting in the boot area of the vehicle !

You couldn't make it up...

ailey

I read that too.

North West = Lancashire maybe?

But the initial report in this thread has not - as yet - been substantiated.

It's a pity that there is not nationwide agreement of how police should deal with people whom they perceive to be breaking Government advice on lockdown.

Being the original OP, the best I can do is pass on the information from the person who runs the Post Office and he's not the kind of person who would tell lies. I wouldn't think that the lady would tell him that she had been fined if she had not. Nothing to gain from that. It's just a post to make people aware that it could happen and probably did, depending on the Police officers who might stop people to check.

RFW

mgdavid said:

soolin said:

In the windows case the people drove over 200 miles to collect something in person , I would hope no eBay seller would have to drive 200 to their closest mail drop centre or PO. 

Yes they drove from the Liverpool area down to the midlands, ISTR it was Coventry, and return. What actually drew the police' attention was that because of the size and shape of the load, the driver's wife was sitting in the boot area of the vehicle !

You couldn't make it up...

From what I read, that's what they were fined for. Having his wife in the boot was a traffic offence. There wasn't a "non essential trip" fine.

There was a local Facebook page that showed a picture someone had taken of the police issuing a fine for two men being out when they didn't need to be. The police later made a statement about it. They weren't handing a fine, the two men didn't speak English well and they were writing some information on a piece of paper for them.

The way it's reported makes you think there are police on every corner, there doesn't appear to have been any in my neighborhood in the last fortnight.

ladyholly

I havent seen an actual policeman in my area but then we very rarely do.

I did however point out to a PCSO that they werent standing 2 metres away from the supermarket security guard they were talking to. It was taken well and the distance was increased. 

soolin

ailey said:

I read that too.

North West = Lancashire maybe?

But the initial report in this thread has not - as yet - been substantiated.

It's a pity that there is not nationwide agreement of how police should deal with people whom they perceive to be breaking Government advice on lockdown.

Being the original OP, the best I can do is pass on the information from the person who runs the Post Office and he's not the kind of person who would tell lies. I wouldn't think that the lady would tell him that she had been fined if she had not. Nothing to gain from that. It's just a post to make people aware that it could happen and probably did, depending on the Police officers who might stop people to check.

I am sure no one would suggest the person you know was lying, but perhaps someone told her an urban myth type scare story, and she believed them and has passed it on in good faith.

locally we have reports along the lines that RFW mentions where people are posting stories on social media which the police are denying and asking people to keep calm and stop spreading fake news as it doesn’t help anyone in this situation. There have been proper reports from the police, groups of youngsters out together told to return home , people being reminded that meeting up for walks with people outside your home not allowed etc. 

elsien

ladyholly said:

I havent seen an actual policeman in my area but then we very rarely do.

I did however point out to a PCSO that they werent standing 2 metres away from the supermarket security guard they were talking to. It was taken well and the distance was increased. 

Just spotted two pulling up to do their shopping at Asda, if that counts.
However from the info from our local meetings before they became defunct, the police were few and far between in our area at the best of times. 

forgotmyname

Nothing better than half a story to get the click throughs up.  Too many only read as far as the click baity headline.

Anyone remember the Guardian TV adverts in the 1980's?

Thug running down the road and attacks an older well dressed gentleman, swing to a different camera angle and
it shows the "thug" saving the guys life.

There were a few others, but shows that you cannot get the truth from one side.  Even the BBC news headlines can
be click baity.  Used to use the news app on my phone a lot. Not i use it to see the list of stories and google them
to avoid the dross.

Pollycat

soolin said:

ailey said:

I read that too.

North West = Lancashire maybe?

But the initial report in this thread has not - as yet - been substantiated.

It's a pity that there is not nationwide agreement of how police should deal with people whom they perceive to be breaking Government advice on lockdown.

Being the original OP, the best I can do is pass on the information from the person who runs the Post Office and he's not the kind of person who would tell lies. I wouldn't think that the lady would tell him that she had been fined if she had not. Nothing to gain from that. It's just a post to make people aware that it could happen and probably did, depending on the Police officers who might stop people to check.

I am sure no one would suggest the person you know was lying, but perhaps someone told her an urban myth type scare story, and she believed them and has passed it on in good faith.

locally we have reports along the lines that RFW mentions where people are posting stories on social media which the police are denying and asking people to keep calm and stop spreading fake news as it doesn’t help anyone in this situation. There have been proper reports from the police, groups of youngsters out together told to return home , people being reminded that meeting up for walks with people outside your home not allowed etc. 

And I'm sure no one is suggesting the OP is not telling the truth either. I'm certainly not.

But in these very scary times i think there should be some sort of substantiation to anything posted that may worry people.

OldWilliam

I'm posting this purely so that you don't feel so worried about all of these "stories" about "being fined".  Most importantly, no police officer can fine you - this is a common but completely incorrect belief that  isn't helped by our "wonderful" (not!) state broadcaster, the BBC.

Only a competent Court can fine you.  As can be found from any of the Covid-19 legislation, and there are four versions of Statutory Instrument depending on the part of the UK in which you are, under certain circumstances a police officer can issue you with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) and no matter where in the UK you are, the definition of a FPN is the same:

• A fixed penalty notice is a notice offering the person to whom it is issued the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for the offence by payment of a fixed penalty to a local authority specified in the notice.

In other words, if you don't dispute that you've committed the alleged offence, you can pay the fixed penalty and legally you cannot be convicted of that alleged offence.  If you don't agree, you simply ask for a hearing at a Court and the offence must then be proven by the prosecution at a hearing by magistrates to the criminal standard of proof, i.e. beyond all reasonable doubt.

Unfortunately, the BBC has printed story after story about police officers issuing "on-the-spot fines" when they are neither on-the-spot nor fines - but they're happy to also print stories about fake police conning the public into handing over cash, even though the BBC is a major part of the problem. Worse, numerous complaints that use of this term is factually inaccurate have, asonishingly, all been rejected by BBC Complaints, on the basis that as lot of the media use this term, it's not factually inaccurate.  By that standard, the world was flat until only a few hundred years ago.

And most offensively, they go on to state that BBC staff "... aim for a clear and accessible delivery, so things can be easily understood."  In other words, the BBC regards the general public as being far too stupid to understand the difference between a FPN and a fine - shocking!   I've now written back stating that their "fake news" - for that is what factual inaccuracy really is - is completely unacceptable, and I've asked for their detailed justification for refusing to correct inaccurate reporting to send to my MP with my complaint.  It will be interesting to see if they will provide one.

twhitehousescat

lights action ,,,,,,,,,,