A woman who was hit with a massive £10,000 fine over a gathering during lockdown says it's "one rule for us and another for them" as Tories who attended a bash in the party's HQ are handed honours.
Sunny-Jo Veasey was slapped with the eye-watering fine after inviting friends over to a shared home in Sheffield in 2021 while restrictions were in place.
She said the life-changing ordeal took a devastating toll on her mental health, and is furious that figures who were at a gathering in Westminster were rewarded rather than punished.
The “jingle and mingle” Christmas gathering, caught on camera in the Mirror's Partygate tape, was attended by failed London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and campaign aide Ben Mallet.
As part of Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list it was announced that the pair will receive a peerage and an OBE respectively.
Sunny-Jo, 29, told The Mirror said it was "completely unfair" that she was forced to deal with the stress and financial hardship while rulebreakers in Downing Street and Tory HQ got off lightly.
She was stunned to learn £320 was being taken out of her account every month after a court hearing happened in her absence.
Sunny-Jo, who now lives in Lanzarote, said she was furious after seeing new footage uncovered by The Mirror of a Christmas bash at Conservative Campaign Headquarters in December 2020 while restrictions were in place.
"I think it’s disgraceful that they are being praised after being filmed partying at that time given the fact that other citizens including myself were punished and went through life changing events for doing the exact same thing," she said.
Initially she was told she would have to pay £10,000 under tough Covid laws brought in during lockdown.
This was later to reduced to £2,000 by magistates, but following a lengthy legal appeal the fine was eventually dropped and the money repaid.
Describing the toll the court case had on her, she said: "It had a massive impact on my mental health mainly I was worrying about not only my finances but how this could be on my records for years to come affected my credit and reputation.
"They took 17% of my monthly earnings without warning which left me facing financial hardship.
"I’d also never appeared in court before so having to go through that process over a long period of time was very nerve racking and triggered a lot of anxiety."
The Mirror's Partygate tape features Mr Mallet holding a glass of red wine and wearing festive braces. He now runs the campaign of Tory mayoral hopeful Moz Hossain, who also employs Malin Bogue, who was seen dancing in the clip.
Mr Hossain this weekend said he was "disappointed" by their actions, but said he was sticking with them.
Mr Bailey attended the gathering but was not in the video.
Sunny-Jo called for Mr Mallett and Mr Bailey to be stripped of their honours.
Neither have been fined over the "jingle and mingle" event.
Sunny-Jo said that she has been disappointed with the penalties handed out to Downing Street rulebreakers over Partygate
"The Tories [in No10] received fines between £50 to £200 when I was facing a £10,000 fine for the exact same thing. Now [those in the Partygate tape] have received titles and honours," she said.
