A young couple has been fined more than £2,000 for holding a baby shower during Covid restrictions, after saying they got the government’s relaxation dates wrong.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard the baby’s 22-year-old father was a student and only worked part time.
He told a judge they could not afford to pay the fines in £200 monthly instalments, and she agreed on the basis that the amount was impossible due to the cost of living – but “not so you can still watch Sky Sports or anything”.
The case is one of numerous Covid prosecutions going through courts in England and Wales, as Partygate causes increasing scrutiny of the system.
An official review has found that a third of charges have been wrongful so far, but experts fear that thousands more miscarriages of justice may have gone undetected.
A hearing on Tuesday was told that the baby shower took place in Ilford, east London, days before laws on gatherings were changed last May.
Initially, the mother was fined £1,000 for breaking the “step 2” Health Protection Regulations that were in force at the time, as well as a £100 victim surcharge and £100 in costs.
The hearing took place under the controversial single justice procedure in November, which sees cases decided by a single magistrate on the basis of written evidence, without defendants or defence lawyers present.
The baby’s father was then separately summonsed to Westminster Magistrates’ Court to be fined separately for the same event.
Edson Assis Filipe, 22, told the court he thought the £1,000 fine had been for both of them and there was nothing further to pay.
District judge Louisa Ciecióra told him: “You thought it was imposed for both of you but the court records do not reflect that.
“Your girlfriend was fined £1,000 but you were given no penalty.”
Mr Assis Filipe, now living in Eccles, Manchester, pleaded guilty to the offence but said it was committed accidentally after he saw news coverage in April 2021 saying that “the lockdown rules were changing”.
“We thought ‘that’s perfect’ because we had a baby shower coming up,” he added. “We saw the news and didn’t look any further.”
The defendant said he and his girlfriend thought the laws had relaxed to allow larger outdoor gatherings and “commemorative events” by the time they held the baby shower on 1 May 2021.
But the court heard that the laws did not change until 17 May 2021.
“Did you not pay attention to the dates at which things were changing?” asked District Judge Ciecióra. “You believed you were allowed to hold the gathering?”
Mr Assis Filipe replied that he thought the change came into force on the first of the month, adding: “Initially it was only going to be five people but we saw the news and invited the rest of them.”
The court heard that Assis Filipe is a student and works part time as a hotel receptionist, earning around £900 a month.
District Judge Ciecióra said she would fine him the same amount as his girlfriend because they had committed the same offence and had “equal responsibility” for holding the baby shower.
She said she would allow payment by instalments and asked if £100 a month was “do-able”.
The defendant said it would not be, because as a household that would mean he and his girlfriend were paying £200 monthly, because of her previous fine.
The judge said she could lower the amount to £50, but only if it “affects the cost of living”, and “not so you can still watch Sky Sports or anything”.
She made a collection order and warned: “If you don’t make the payment this stays on court records forever and you could find bailiffs turning up.”
Later on Tuesday, another Covid case was listed before the same court because a man had been fined £440 in his absence, despite pleading not guilty.
Levi Mullings was accused of holding an illegal indoor gathering in Bromley, southeast London, during lockdown on 30 December 2020.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that his case was dealt with by a magistrate under the single justice procedure, in his absence, on 5 January this year.
Mr Mullings was convicted and handed a £440, fine £44 victim surcharge and £100 in costs.
“From what I can work out, Mr Mullings sent a not guilty plea around November and somehow this was missed,” District Judge Ciecióra said.
“The result is that no plea was entered … taking into account the interests of justice, he should have the opportunity to present his position.”
She granted an application to reopen the case, which will be heard on 31 May.
Data obtained by The Independent shows that 29 per cent of charges reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) since March 2020 were found to be “incorrect” – 839 in total.
Experts warn that the CPS figures do not represent the true scale of miscarriages of justice, because prosecutors do not review charges heard behind closed doors under the “secretive” single justice procedure.
It has seen thousands of people handed huge fines for Covid offences in their absence, without entering pleas or having legal representation.
Anyone who does not pay a Covid fine within 28 days can be charged with an offence, and the government has ignored calls from parliamentary committees to set up an appeal process that would stop innocent people having to risk prosecution to defend themselves.
The latest figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show there are more than 50,000 unpaid fixed penalty notices being considered for prosecution.
