College of Policing Issues Fresh Guidance on Enforcement of Coronavirus Regulations

The College of Policing has issued additional guidance to forces about the enforcement of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)(England) Regulations 2020.

The new guidance follows the news that a second person was wrongly convicted of a coronavirus offence after Metropolitan Police officers wrongly applied the legislation.

At the start of April a York woman was wrongly convicted of a coronavirus offence after being arrested by British Transport Police officers at Newcastle Central Station.

The three-page document, which can be downloaded here, reiterates our concern at the contradictions between Government guidance and the wording of the hastily-drafted Regulations. In particular Regulation 6, which explains the circumstances in which a person can leave their home, is open to far wider interpretation than the Government intended.

The briefing note begins: "Some public statements made soon after the adoption of the Regulations suggested that members of the public could only leave their homes if 'essential' to do so. However, this is not the test set out in the Regulations and there is no legal basis for a requirement in those terms to be imposed. The applicable threshold is that of 'reasonable excuse'."

It provides some examples of what would likely be considered a reasonable/unreasonable excuse for a person to leave their home during the current period of "lockdown".

Likely reasonable excuses include:

- Buying several days' worth of food, including luxury items and alcohol;

- Buying a small amount of a staple item or necessity (e.g. a newspaper, pet food, a loaf of bread or pint of milk);

- Buying tools and supplies to repair a fence panel damaged in recent bad weather;

- Driving to countryside and walking (where far more time is spent walking than driving);

- Stopping to rest or to eat lunch while on a long walk;

- A non-key worker or non-essential key worker travelling to work where it is not reasonably possible to work from home;

- Moving to a friend's address for several days to allow a 'cooling-off' following arguments at home.

Likely unreasonable excuses include:

- Buying paint and brushes, simply to redecorate a kitchen;

- Driving for a prolonged period with only brief exercise;

- A short walk to a park bench, when the person remains seated for a much longer period;

- A person who can work from home choosing to work in a local park;

- A person knocking on doors offering to do cash in-hand work.

Officers are reminded to use their discretion and professional judgement in deciding whether or not circumstances are reasonable.

We're now more than 3 weeks in, so you would hope the public, police and courts alike are getting to grips with the coronavirus legislation currently in force.

As previously mentioned, we'd encourage everyone to comply with and enforce the legislation in the spirit intended - that is to minimise the risk of cross-infection between individuals of different households.

Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.