A 72-year-old man in the UK has been sentenced to six months in prison for serving mince pies with wine at his shooting club during the lockdown in 2020.
Maurice Snelling broke “tier three restrictions at Cloudside Shooting Grounds in 2020,” the BBC reported.
Mr. Snelling pleaded guilty to serving the mince pies but argued that his club was in an area where restrictions advised visitors to sit inside and consume drinks if they were accompanied by food.
But the Judge presiding over the case said, “I find it hard to believe that Mr. Snelling didn’t know which lockdown tier he was in.”
Snelling reportedly refused to provide police CCTV from the club and attempted to have the footage destroyed before the contractor company handed it to police.
Snelling’s lawyer told the BBC that he had suffered ill health since the case began and “This has tarnished his reputation. He believed he was targeted by neighbors, and this built up resentment of a man with good character.”
The Judge believed Snelling to be “anti-establishment, especially to the police,” the report added. “He doesn’t like being told what to do. He treated police with resentment.”
During the 2020 lockdowns in London, British police arrested as many as 104 Londoners in one day for breaching regulations.
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Many incidents were reported of people refusing to go along with the restrictions.
In one incident, Police arrested a man for handing out free soup to homeless people in a park after he violated COVID-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, more than 40 people attended a Downing Street garden party amid the UK’s restrictions on gatherings.
A research study from earlier this year revealed young people were the hardest hit during the lockdown.
Headed by Professor Nicola Gray, of Swansea University’s School of Psychology and Professor Robert Snowden, from Cardiff University, it has now revealed:
- Clinically significant levels of psychological distress in 40.4 percent of participants in the second survey, a 9.8 percent increase from the first survey
- Poorer mental health in women, younger adults
- The greatest reduction in mental health in the youngest age group (16-24 years old).
