Police officer assaulted while shutting down 150-person illegal party

14 January 2021, 18:06

By Ewan Quayle

@EQjourno

A police officer was assaulted as they tried to shut down an illegal party in Hertfordshire - and the force wants to hunt down the organiser to issue them a £10,000 fine.

Hertfordshire Police launched an operation to shut down the party at around 8pm on Wednesday night after receiving reports of an unusually large number of vehicles parked near a property in Blanche Lane, South Mimms.

Officers entered the house and found around 150 people inside, along with DJ mixing decks and amplifiers - all of which were seized.

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A Section 35 dispersal order was put in place and the gathering - in breach of Covid-19 regulations - was quickly dispersed.

One person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer after being injured while dealing with the incident.

Vast amounts of alcohol was also seized, including a stockpile of booze found in a white van that was stopped near the scene.

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Officers issued a dozen £200 fixed penalty notices but the force is keen to track down the organiser to issue them the maximum £10,000 fine.

Inspector Kio Bozorgi told LBC: “This is completely unacceptable behaviour and I would like to reassure the community that action is being taken.

"Police have a variety of powers to their disposal which include powers of entry into premises to disrupt such activity."

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