A man who was caught hanging out on a green with a group of friends has been fined for breaking lockdown rules.
Hamza Ali, of Burlington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, was among a group of adults seen hanging about on Millennium Green, St Peters, on Monday night (March 30).
New rules brought in by the government last week means people are only allowed to leave their homes for limited reasons.
They include shopping for necessities, one form of daily exercise, a medical reason and to travel for essential work.
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According to a post on the Tameside South Greater Manchester Police page, officers initially spoke to the group to remind them of the government measures in place but they ran off and returned a short time later.
The police officers came back to the green and detained two members of the group for the offence of contravening a requirement as to the restriction of movement during an emergency period.
Ali, 20, then accidentally walked in to one of the officer’s arms.
He refused to give his details to police and was arrested, before being remanded to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, March 31.
Ali pleaded guilty in court and was ordered to pay £217 in fines and cost.
The other two men arrested will also be summonsed to appear in front of a magistrate at a later date.
PC Martin Jones, writing on the GMP Tameside South page, said it is the second incident within a 24 hour period somebody has been arrested and appeared in court for breaking the lockdown measures.
He wrote: “As previously explained we will continue to engage and explain the new government guidelines. These powers have not been put in place to annoy you, they have been put in place to protect yourselves, your family and the wider community.
“Again, the emergency services are being stretched beyond belief putting their own lives and their families lives at risk. Sadly up and down the country, it will not be just our colleagues at the NHS that will be responding to reports of sudden deaths.
“Every report of a death at home requires police attendance, we are already seeing this increase. As always we want to pride ourselves and be professional when dealing such horrible situations. We do not want this additional strain being put on us.
“Please think about your actions and stay indoors unless absolutely neccessary.”
Police also arrested a man for breaching the restrictions in Ashton town centre on Tuesday.
The man allegedly shouted ‘you won’t catch me anyway’ before he was arrested.
A 20-year-old man was detained outside Margaret House, Ashton, around ten minutes later.
