A 21-year-old man, who at the time was a student of Bournemouth University and lived within private student accommodation, has been issued with a £10,000 fixed penalty notice by Dorset Police for organising multiple large gatherings with other students.

Superintendent Heather Dixey said, “The first gathering took place on Sunday 11 October and the second on Saturday 28 November 2020. On both occasions the man admitted to organising the gatherings and was issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice for each incident.

“On the evening of Tuesday 8 December 2020 he organised a third gathering, this time for well in excess of 30 people. Officers attended to break up the party and he later admitted to organising this event when interviewed under caution. He has subsequently been issued with a £10,000 penalty.

“It’s not just this individual who has received fines for these house parties and gatherings. In total and across the three incidents, around 70 individuals, mostly students, have each been issued with a £200 fixed penalty notice for breach of COVID-19 rules.

“People across the country have made sacrifices and have followed the rules and guidelines in place to help stop the spread of this deadly virus. This individual, despite repeated attempts to engage by officers and Student Services at the university, has chosen to continually flout the rules, which ultimately puts him and those around him at risk.

“We haven’t taken this decision lightly, but these continual breaches, each larger in scale than the one before, cannot simply be ignored or escape enforcement action.

“I genuinely believe that the communities we serve would expect this type of action.

“Our communities deserve immense credit in remaining largely compliant throughout all COVID-19 restrictions and now is the time to ensure we all remain vigilant and do not let our guard down.

“This is now and not forever. I thank the public for playing their part and we will hopefully see a return to some kind of normality soon.”