UK Shopper Receives Fine for Buying Wine, Potato Chips During COVID-19 Lockdown
According to a report from Edinburgh Live, a shopper in the United Kingdom claims she was fined for buying only wine, potato chips, and other snacks from a supermarket after officers searched her shopping bag.
Edinburgh Live was contacted by a reader, who said, “I was walking through Holyrood Park on Sunday afternoon (5 April) on my way back from Morrisons (a supermarket). Two officers asked to look inside my bag, and then fined me for only having crisps, other snacks and a bottle of wine.”
Further reports of shoppers being handed fines for buying non-essential goods, such as wine, with police rifling through shoppers’ belongings to ensure that only essential goods have been purchased.
Each report claims that a fine of £30 or roughly $37 were given to shoppers, on the grounds that they had left their homes without a good reason, in this case, buying non-essential items.
“Two people I know in West Lothian: a nurse in uniform leaving a patient’s house and someone leaving a shop with just a bottle of wine was fined £30,” a West Lothian resident reported on Twitter.
Another Twitter user wrote, “A friend of my daughter was fined £30 on the spot in Edinburgh the other night having just bought wine and snacks, both of which are non-essential. Still seems a bit draconian to me.”
A friend of my daughter was fined £30 on the spot in Edinburgh the other night having just bought wine and snacks, both of which are non-essential. Still seems a bit draconian to me.
— Iain Small (@Smally1969) April 4, 2020
Across the UK several people have been summoned on various offenses relating to leaving their homes without good reason.
The Mirror reported of police clamping down on shoppers deemed to have bought non-essential items, such as compost.
Yesterday, a video circulating social media showed police rebuking the parents of children playing out in their front yard.
Other videos from around the world depict a similar scene, with law enforcement often comically ensuring people stay home.
The UK shows little sign of flattening the elusive curve as coronavirus-related deaths continue to rise as authorities struggle to enforce social distancing among various communities.
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