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First lockdown arrest included ‘prosecution for a fictional offence’
‘Huge discretion’ in how police deploy powers will hit oppressed communities hardest, campaigners warn
THE first arrest made against someone for not complying with lockdown rules was carried out using the wrong law, it was revealed today.
Marie Dinou from York was detained by officers for “refusing to speak” at Newcastle Central station last Saturday and subsequently fined £660.
She was prosecuted under the Coronavirus Act for failing to provide her identity or reasons for travel to the police when asked, according to the Times newspaper.
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