Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Two Women fined for walking for Starbucks

648 replies

Superketchup · 08/01/2021 13:17

What rule have they broken? I don’t understand. Two of them met - yes can meet one other person - they’d driven 5 miles - surely that’s ok?! - and they had a Starbucks each which the police said was a picnic?!
Why are they keeping takeaways open if it’s agaisnt the law to get one? I took my kids to the park, the coffee shop was open for takeaway. It was freezing. We got a hot chocolate each. I’m too scared to do so again!

OP posts:
Bollss · 08/01/2021 15:04

a coffee turns it into a social occasion? or perhaps they were trying to keep warm what with it being absolutely fucking freezing. Its like the police have had their actual brains removed. How do we expect these people to solve actual crime when they have got no common sense?

Itscoldouthere · 08/01/2021 15:04

I've recently moved to Montreal in Canada, walking with a beverage seem to be the law here Grin

vanillandhoney · 08/01/2021 15:05

@fluufy

Some people saying five miles is not local don't understand how far people need to travel just for essentials...our nearest proper supermarket is five miles away and we're not even super rural

That might matter if the conversation was about going for essential shopping, but it isn't.

You're allowed to leave the house to use takeaway services. Otherwise those services would be closed.

Again, they didn't do anything wrong. You are allowed to:

  • travel to exercise. The law doesn't stipulate a maximum distance.
  • meet up (if alone) with one other person outside of your household or bubble.
  • travel to shop or purchase from takeaway/click and collect services.

So again, what part of the law have they broken? Not the guidance, the actual law.

benedicto · 08/01/2021 15:05

@Iheartmysmart

Thanks *@benedicto* We tend to meet outside most days for a walk otherwise we are both sat inside in front of a laptop for 9 hours during the week. Madness that we can go in each other’s houses but risk a fine outside!

I quite often take a hip flask full of port with me on my afternoon dog walk if I don’t have to drive later. No bugger is taking that off me.

I am also in a support bubble, but in our personal circumstances it is too dangerous to meet inside so we also meet outside for walks. This police action is bonkers. I could travel to meet my support bubble inside anywhere in the country, but if I travel to meet them safely outdoors I can be punished (and have to prove my innocence after the punishment is issued).
vanillandhoney · 08/01/2021 15:06

@Viviennemary

They shouldn't be travelling in the same car if they are from different households. It wasn't a necessary journey.
But they didn't travel in the same car - they arrived in separate cars.

It also doesn't matter that it wasn't necessary. You're allowed to travel for exercise and meet up with one other person outdoors. You're also allowed to travel to purchase takeaway services.

Nothing they did was illegal.

Scaredshitlessagain · 08/01/2021 15:07

@Glenorma

They were clearly sitting in the car together, which is illegal.
I still can't comprehend this is real. Fuck me, if this goes on much longer people are just going to go crazy. Derbyshire police are a joke....again!
enjoyingscience · 08/01/2021 15:09

I hope they fight this too. They’ve done nothing wrong, and the police need to be shown up for not being able to understand the difference between guidance and law, and also for not being able to prioritise resource appropriately. On what planet it makes sense to send multiple officers to intercept a chat over a coffee, when at least one woman a week is murdered by her partner, often one known to the police, I’ll never know.

Starlightstarbright1 · 08/01/2021 15:10

I live in Derbyshire and drive almost that far to the supermarket yeaterday.. No idea where they live but parts of Derbyshire are very rural.

Delta1 · 08/01/2021 15:12

You took the words out of my mouth @Scaredshitlessagain
I sometimes wonder if this is actually happening or if I am, in fact, a brain in a jar a la Rene Descartes. If I am, please re-boot me.

HermioneWeasley · 08/01/2021 15:12

The police are a fucking joke. It’s been fascinating to see how many of them have absolutely relished a police state and bullying the public as soon as they’ve had the chance. All this while domestic abuse has tripled, but that would involve actual work. This has shattered my already fragile respect for and faith in the police.

Lazy, jobsworth twats.

ravenmum · 08/01/2021 15:12

OP did link to the article early on, and it says:

As we drove in there was a police van, a police car, and there were loads of police there ... The next thing, my car is surrounded. I got out of my car ... One of them started reading my rights ... I said we had come in separate cars, even parked two spaces away and even brought our own drinks with us.

From what she says, they didn't share a car.

bendmeoverbackwards · 08/01/2021 15:13

Wonder what Derbyshire Police would make of US citizens travelling to and from Florida for holidays despite the huge rise in cases.....

Calmandmeasured1 · 08/01/2021 15:17

@Superketchup

My dd - 5 - sat and drank her hot chocolate on a wall. Is this now a criminal offence?
Sitting down to drink with someone outside of your household or bubble is not permitted but I don't think sitting by yourselves for a few minutes is illegal. However, I wouldn't do it. I would continue to walk with the drink as I presume it is for consumption while exercising.

Original poster
Superketchup · 08/01/2021 15:18

She will spill it 😂calm
You can argue not essential but you know what - she is 5. She is sad and clingy and upset. A bit chocolate on a walk is a minuscule drop of enjoyment in a pretty bleak landscape.

OP posts:
Vitaminsss · 08/01/2021 15:19

It’s not against the law, but definitely against the spirit of the guidance to stay at home. No one needs to drive 5 miles to visit Starbucks and visit a pretty lake with their friend. We all have to make compromises here.

TeacupDrama · 08/01/2021 15:20

they need to let it go to court it will be thrown out you can not be penalised for breaking guidelines only for breaking the law not what someone deems to be breaking the spirit of lockdown
The police are getting too big for their boots and basically harassing citizens with overkill, one or two policemen at most should have apporached them and asked how far they had travellled first, then if they thought it was too far should have just said go back home
stay in your county we think local doesn't mean crossing county boundary
intimidation and trying to frighten people into admitting they have broken the law when they haven't is not right
This was just a group of policemen trying to have fun and showing off how hard they were at the expense of two youngish people no way did it require several cars and officers what a waste of resources, it seems if the police have enough resources to have several cars not 1 at a beauty spot they are over funded not underfunded you can't cry underfunding then be seen to have dozens of officers just hanging around a car park waiting for walkers, they are seriously damaging they police's reputation if further damage was actually possible

CaptainMyCaptain · 08/01/2021 15:21

@fluufy

Some people saying five miles is not local don't understand how far people need to travel just for essentials...our nearest proper supermarket is five miles away and we're not even super rural

That might matter if the conversation was about going for essential shopping, but it isn't.

Not really. So e people think rural means rolling fields and meadows to roam in when actually it can mean living in a village with no pavements on the through road and traffic speeding by. Driving a few miles to a N T property is much safer on all counts.
ShopoholicIn · 08/01/2021 15:23

I thibk as per rules you are supposed to walk to upper destination if you are going for a walk n not drive and then walk. As between Xmas and New Year people from Milton Keynes were driving to Wales for a walk, which doesn't make sense.

Vitaminsss · 08/01/2021 15:23

The police definitely do things for social media kudos. God forbid you actually need their assistance - I had consistent delays and an unnecessary “NFA” as they have “murders to deal with”

Calmandmeasured1 · 08/01/2021 15:23

@Iheartmysmart

Oh no! My support bubble lives 5 miles from me. We both have a park near our houses but there is also another one pretty much central to us both. Is it:
a) I drive 5 miles to her to walk in her park
b) She drives 5 miles to me to meet in my park
c) We meet in the middle doing 2.5 miles each
Option C obviously means two cars on the road which according to mumsnet we are bound to crash or break down and need assistance.

We will also buy coffee wherever we go!

If you are in support bubble then you are classed as one household so can go into each other's homes and have coffee there.

annevonkleve · 08/01/2021 15:25

They were fined because Derbyshire police clearly have nothing to do (though their Twitter feed says a young girl is missing, so maybe they could look for her instead).

These two ladies were not breaking any laws and the fines will be rescinded. This isn't the first time Derbyshire police have made themselves look stupid - last year they had the drones out trying to scare people walking in the Peak District.

annevonkleve · 08/01/2021 15:26

@ShopoholicIn

I thibk as per rules you are supposed to walk to upper destination if you are going for a walk n not drive and then walk. As between Xmas and New Year people from Milton Keynes were driving to Wales for a walk, which doesn't make sense.
No that doesn't make sense. But this was 5 miles, not 105 or however long it is from MK to the Welsh border.
Iheartmysmart · 08/01/2021 15:27

Thanks @Calmandmeasured1 we do meet indoors as well but also meet most weekdays for a walk so we don’t sit in front of our laptop for hours on end.

elastamum · 08/01/2021 15:27

What is really bizarre about this is there is a kiosk at Foremarke which is currently open and selling take out coffee and snacks. Which according to the police is a picnic and therefore is not allowed.

Bollss · 08/01/2021 15:27

@Vitaminsss

It’s not against the law, but definitely against the spirit of the guidance to stay at home. No one needs to drive 5 miles to visit Starbucks and visit a pretty lake with their friend. We all have to make compromises here.
ive made enough compromises, i dont want to give up walks too because people think its "against the spirit" ffs