News
Dad issued big fine for breaching quarantine rules three times after holiday in Spain
“He couldn’t resist leaving the house again and got a third fine”
A dad has now breached his quarantine rules three times in the fortnight since returning from holiday in Spain.
His fines now total £7,000 after refusing to self-isolate upon return of holidaying in Spain.
The MEN first reported concerns regarding the man when his children went to school despite recently returning from their holiday.
The school contacted the family but they denied they had travelled abroad. Checks were made with Border Force and the breach was reported to the police.
Police then visited the family home in Rochdale where they finally admitted they had been to Spain. They were fined £1,000.
Despite the fine, the dad continued to leave his home and was slapped with another £1,000 fine.
Rochdale Council revealed yesterday that the same man has been issued with a third and larger fine of £5,000.
The council shared the news on Facebook saying: “Last week we shared a story of a man who got two fines for leaving the house when he should’ve been self-isolating.
“Despite the two fines, he couldn’t resist leaving the house again and got a third fine. Over two weeks of self-isolation he received £7,000 worth of fines.”
However, the MEN reports that officials are struggling to get those who have been fined to cough up.
Since the second lockdown came into force on November 5th, 400 Fixed Penalty Fines have been handed out by Greater Manchester Police. This is on top of the 459 fines since the original lockdown began in March.
Following the Rochdale dad’s second fine, Superintendent Niall Hayden-Pawson of GMP’s Rochdale division said: “It’s really important for people to follow the regulations to minimise the risk, especially with the increase in cases we have seen recently.
“One of the ways people can stop the spread is to self-isolate for the full 14 days when coming back to the UK as it can take this length of time for symptoms of COVID-19 to develop.
“During this time you could unknowingly pass the virus on to others, even if you don’t have symptoms.
“If you are contacted after returning from abroad, it’s important to answer and respond, as once a case is referred to police, it takes up a number of resources in order to visit the address and make contact with the individual.
“As well as this officers are putting their health at risk by visiting someone who could potentially be carrying the virus. A risk that is preventable if everyone self-isolates as required.”
Councillor Daalat Ali, cabinet member for healthy lives at Rochdale council, said: “We appreciate that as we enter lockdown again families are being asked to make even more sacrifices but it remains essential that people who need to self-isolate follow the rules.
“This family deliberately put the health of other people at risk at a time when we need everyone to play their part in stopping the spread of the virus.”
Rochdale currently has one of the highest coronavirus rates in the country.
Commuters could be facing the steepest rise in the cost of train travel in more than a decade just months after prices were already increased.
It has been predicted today that train prices across England and Wales could rise by nearly 5% before the New Year.
The 2021 rise in prices was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic when train travel was at an all-time low, however, tickets still saw a price rise of 2.6% in March.
Abhijit Tembhekar / Flickr
And this morning, the Retail Prices Index for July 2021 was confirmed as 3.8% by the Office for National Statistics, meaning passengers could see fares rise by 4.8% in 2022, which would be the largest hike since 2012.
This means that the cost of rail travel could increase twice within ten months, and would see a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return rise by £6.30 to £94.90, according to Metro.
Though all hope isn’t yet gone – changes to the fares in 2022 are still yet to be confirmed.
Jon David Houghton / Wikimedia Commons
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “No decision has been made on national rail fares.
“The government is considering a variety of options and we will announce our decision in due course.”
This news has come as train travel in Manchester and beyond is on the rise – earlier this month, we reported that zero cases of Covid were found in Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, despite thousands of commuters using the station’s services as offices reopen.
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