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No evidence that fines reduced Covid cases in Scotland, police adviser says

A policing expert has slammed Priti Patel’s claims that fining people for lockdown breaches helped stop virus’s spread

By finlay johnston
No evidence that fines reduced Covid cases in Scotland, police adviser says
An adviser to Police Scotland has rubbished Priti Patel's claims that fining people for lockdown breaches helped to reduce the spread of Covid | Andrew Boyers - WPA Pool/Getty Images
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There is “no evidence” that issuing people with fines for supposed lockdown breaches helped to reduce the spread of Covid-19, a Police Scotland adviser told the UK Covid inquiry today.

Susan McVie, a professor of quantitative criminology at Edinburgh University, criticised the UK government’s “mantra” around on-the-spot fines that were disproportionately given to people from ethnic minority backgrounds.

She said: “[Then home secretary] Priti Patel… specifically said that the use of enforcement would help to reduce the spread of the disease, protect the NHS and save lives.

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