Police raid lockdown breaking house party attended by at least 30 people
19 February 2021, 08:39
Police have raided a house party in Islington, north-east London, which was attended by up to 30 people.
Party-goers at a property turned off disco ball-style lights, lowered the music, and drew the curtains after officers knocked on Wednesday night, Scotland Yard said.
The force was alerted to "loads of people coming and going" to the address on Paton Street at around 11pm, but when they knocked on the door someone inside shouted "turn it off" and tried to conceal the activity, a spokesman said.
Officers estimated around 20-30 people were inside the house when they arrived.
A Metropolitan Police statement said: "Despite repeated knocking, there was no response at all and it was clear that those within were choosing to ignore them.
"Faced with this lack of cooperation, and in order to deal with the incident, the officers obtained a closure order under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act."
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After more warnings were ignored officers "forced entry" to the house at around 1.45am and found 10 people inside, six of whom did not live there.
A 20-year-old man, said to be the organiser, and nine others were reported for breaking Covid-19 regulations.
Inspector Alex Hope-Rollinson said: "Frankly it is shocking to see people act with such indifference for the rules, willing to put the health of their community at risk.
"I'm proud of the professional and intelligent way the attending officers used different areas of legislation to ensure that people who were flagrantly breaching the rules were given fixed penalty notices.
"We will continue to work across the borough to keep residents safe, taking enforcement action where necessary."
