A Birmingham pub has been fined £10,000 after police raided a lock-in that saw dozens of drinkers mixing indoors without social distancing an hour after curfew.
Police footage shows officers riding the The Spotted Dog in the Digbeth area of Birmingham at 11pm on October 30.
In footage filmed by an officer’s bodycam, dozens of people can be seen inside the pub with music playing in the background. Birmingham was still in Tier 2 of local lockdown restrictions, meaning people from different households were not allowed to meet inside.
The pub worker can be heard apologising for the breach of social distancing rules and saying “I know everyone in here”.
When asked by an officer why the pub was open the unidentified man replies: “Everyone’s expecting us to be closed down next week. I know everyone in here. My apologies.”
The officer tells him: “You can’t operate like this. It’s a blatant breach of the covid legislation.”
The man replies: “I know I was wrong tonight. So, my apologies.”
The clip ends with the officer saying to drinkers: “I’d be grateful if you would put those down, guys, because you are breaking the law.”
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: ‘We’ve had to issue yet another £10,000 fine after finding a lock-in at a Birmingham pub, with households mixing inside an hour after it should have shut. ‘Our officers arrived at The Spotted Dog in Digbeth at 11pm on Friday 30 October to find music still blaring and a party atmosphere, with no social distancing in place. ‘Officers were told the gathering happened because people were expecting the pub to have to shut within days. ‘We’ve now issued a £10,000 fine because of the scale of the breach at the Warwick Street pub. ‘It’s the ninth time we’ve issued the so-called super fine, which are reserved for the most serious breaches of law.
