10 breaches of Covid lockdown rules in Bradford district

Here is a look back at some of the worst lockdown breaches by people in the Bradford district.

Lockdown breaching hairdresser

A Bradford district salon owner has hit the headlines for defying lockdown rules.

Sinead Quinn, owner of Quinn Blakey Hairdressing, Oakenshaw, was originally sent a letter from Kirklees Council on January 29 who were granted an injunction stopping her from reopening her salon and allowing members of the public to enter.

There is a power of arrest attached to this injunction which means should Ms Quinn breach it she may be arrested and brought to court. The injunction is in place until March 31, 2021 and she has yet to breach the rules during the third lockdown.

Ms Quinn claimed on social media last January that she would reopen on January 30 despite racking up £17,000 in Fixed Penalty Notices from previous lockdown breaches last year.

She pulled up the shutters of her Bradford Road, Oakenshaw salon on January 30 and was immediately met by two police community support officers.

They went inside the salon for 10 minutes until the two officers allowed Ms Quinn to drive off in a black Range Rover parked outside.

But police later said no Covid breaches had been noted by officers during their visit to the salon.

She also applied for a Covid support grant after the current lockdown forced salons to close at the start of January.

However, Kirklees Council rejected the application saying the salon was "not eligible for a grant" as it had "failed to comply with national restrictions" and there is currently an injunction in place on the business.

Quarantine Fight Club

THE organiser of a Bradford viral boxing channel accepted he was "daft" after police shut down an event attended by more than 30 people.

Dozens of people were packed into Hard Knocks Gym in Halifax Road, Buttershaw, with no social distancing and very few people wearing masks for the latest episode of Quarantine Fight Club when police were called to the gym in October last year.

Video footage from the event showed crowds of people in close proximity inside the gym, with few wearing face coverings, having attended to watch the QFC event, the 25th to take place since the beginning of lockdown.

The event was shut down and spectators dispersed by police, and while organiser Darren Moffitt has admitted he has done wrong, but defended Quarantine Fight Club for the impact it has had helping people with mental health problems and those with criminal histories.

He said: "Police said they've been watching us since March but it wasn't until this weekend when someone unfortunately complained they have come along.

"They had to do their job, which I understand completely, and it was daft having that many people there, way more than we should have. It was a silly thing to do and I admit that.

"I spoke to police and told them I was the organiser. I'm going to be hit with a £10,000 fine because of the number of people there, but I hold my hands up. I have to pay the fine and rightly so.

"I know legally it's not allowed, but we have helped so many people through tough times with these events."

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed the event organiser was handed the maximum £10,000 fine as a result of the breach.

Bradford Council supported the police's action and said the event "puts us all at risk".

Shipley flat party

More than 20 people were fined for breaching coronavirus restrictions after police were called to reports of a party in the Shipley area.

Officers attended Victoria Mills, found on Salts Mill Road, around 4.30am in February and forced entry after the occupants refused to let police in.

More than 21 people were found inside the one bedroom apartment and were served with fixed penalty notices for £800 each, before being dispersed from the location.

It is believed the apartment had been booked online.

Shisha smokers

A total of 10 people were each fined £200 after breaking lockdown rules in Bradford on February 27 this year.

Bradford East Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) and Bradford Council issued the fines after people were found to be "meeting with other households to smoke shisha and eat takeaways" at a car park on Leeds Road.

Police said, in a social media post, that this was "not a reasonable excuse to be out in the current lockdown" adding that "these people are jeopardising the Government's most recent announcement for relaxing the lockdown rules".

Wheelie silly

A group of motorcyclists left onlookers stunned as they took advantage of the unusually-quiet traffic conditions on a main road in Bradford to pull 'ludicrous' wheelies.

The group went under the Dudley Hill underpass, travelling from the direction of Tong Street and down Wakefield Road, towards the city centre.

The incident took place in the first few days of the first lockdown in March last year.

Snowball fight

TWO men involved in organising a mass snowball fight in Leeds in clear breach of coronavirus restrictions were each given £10,000 fines.

The men, aged 20 and 23, were identified as a result of police enquiries following the incident on January 14.

Hundreds of people gathered on Woodhouse Moor in close proximity to each other for more than two hours.

With around 200 people taking part in the snowball fight, it was dubbed "the battle of Hyde Park" by one student on Twitter.

Organising any such gathering of more than 30 people is illegal and leaves organisers liable to a £10,000 fine under Coronavirus legislation.

The men were interviewed and reported for fixed penalty notices to be issued against them.

The 23-year-old had previously received a fine for breaching restrictions in relation to mixing households at an address in Hyde Park in November.

Wedding party in marquee

A landowner faced a £10,000 fine after police were called to a wedding party at a farm between Bradford and Leeds, attended by up to 300 people where a “fight broke out”.

Officers were scrambled to reports of a wedding celebration at a marquee at a farm in New Farnley, just east of Tong, between 5pm and 6pm in September last year.

It was reported that between 100 and 300 people were in attendance at Scarecrow Farm, and that a fight had broken out. Officers attended the area and confirmed there was a large number of people and loud music around a marquee in woods, in clear breach of Covid-19 regulations.

A 49-year-old man was identified as being one of the landowners and was reported for summons for holding a gathering of more than 30 people in breach of Coronavirus legislation, which carries a £10,000 fine.

Bradford to Leicester lockdown breach

Two Bradfordians were fined for breaching lockdown restrictions after they were stopped by police around 100 miles from home.

Police stopped a vehicle in Leicester in January this year and its occupants, a man and woman from Bradford, were unable to provide a valid reason for being so far from home.

A police spokesperson said: "A man and woman from Bradford fined once vehicle stopped in Leicester – no reasonable excuse given."

Going Bradford to Oldham 'just for a drive'

Four people in the same car travelling from Bradford to Oldham have been stopped by police for Covid rules breaches.

Officers stopped a silver Volkswagen car on the A672 in Rishworth initially for an expired MOT.

But officers soon discovered that the four people inside the car were from different households.

They told police in January this year they were travelling from Bradford to Oldham ‘just for a drive’.

Teens warned

Residents in Great Horton were up in arms as groups of teenagers continued to ignore lockdown rules during the first lockdown in April last year.

Councillors warned the group following an incident where a gang was snapped blasting music around the streets and ignoring social distancing rules.