Police and Crime Commissioner calls on universities to hand out ‘final warnings’ to rule breakers.
The students who have been issued with £10,000 fines for holding mass house parties during the coronavirus pandemic have not paid up.
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping believes the universities should start handing out ‘final warnings’ for any students caught breaking the rules.
He is now calling on the government for £400,000 due to fears that national lockdown will encourage more students to break the law.
He believes the fear of being suspended if caught again could stop partying students who are “breeding the disease” within the community.
Nottingham was the first city in the country to hand out the £10,000 fine to a 19-year-old University of Nottingham student who held a house party in Harlaxton Drive.
Around 50 people turned up to the party on Friday, September 11, with the students involved apologising to residents for their behaviour the next day.
The 28 days to pay the fine has now passed, but Mr Tipping said no payment has been made and therefore it will be a matter for the courts to decide.
Since the £10,000 fine was issued, more local residents, including some students, have continued to break the rules and hold illegal parties, with a property in Broad Street being used as a ‘ticketed’ event with door security.
Four Nottingham Trent University students were given £10,000 fines each on Tuesday, October 20, when council officers spotted a house party in Kimbolton Avenue.
The students claimed that everyone had left the party, but on closer inspection, more than 30 people were found hiding in the kitchen, upstairs bedrooms and basement.
When challenged, the students allegedly claimed that they should be having the ‘time of their lives’ and that officers were essentially ‘spoiling their fun.’
Police issued a £10,000 after they found a party of around 40 people taking place in Mansfield. Officers were called out to a house in Lindley Street, at around 4.30pm on October 22, after reports of a large group of people partying.
Recently, officers were called to a flat in Plumptre Street in the city centre at around 12.45am on Saturday, October 31.
One party organiser was handed a £10,000 fine, and their 38 guests were each issued with £200 for flouting the Covid-19 restrictions.
Last weekend, 83 fines were handed out, mainly to students, who held Halloween parties despite the country being in Tier 3, which means different households cannot mix indoors or in gardens.
Nottingham Trent University said in the most serious cases, students can be excluded after their case is heard by a misconduct panel.
The University of Nottingham said in the most serious cases, students will be fast-tracked to the highest levels of our process where suspension and exclusion are potential outcomes.
However, so far no students have been excluded.
By Olimpia Zagnat
Lead image: Matt Lee.