'Partygoers breaking lockdown rules said they "never watch the news" so were unaware of the global coronavirus pandemic'

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55705272

I'm with Hampshire police here, who tweeted about this with the hashtag #ThereAreNoWords. Pull the other one! Never heard of the pandemic, ten months in? Puhleeze.

@SmudgeButt

My goodness - how could they be unaware??? They even talk about it on the Archers!!

Obvious twaddle.

I'm going to take a wide guess here and say that there's not going to be any intersections on the Venn diagram of people who listen to The Archers and people who attend illegal parties

Nice try - the government sent a letter to every house in March specifically to prevent this excuse!

Everyone doesn't watch the news. The same as not everybody reads books or newspapers. There's an element of classism in a response of doubt toward these people here. Sure it could be a lie, but is it honestly so surprising that not every person in the country reads the news?

Do you really believe that "partygoers" wouldn't be aware that pubs and clubs have been closed? They also obviously don't work or eat either otherwise you couldn't avoid it

@Ch3rish I think you're on a racing certainty there!

I'm going to take a wide guess here and say that there's not going to be any intersections on the Venn diagram of people who listen to The Archers and people who attend illegal parties

🤣

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Nothing classist in my response. You don't need to watch the news to know about the pandemic. It's been all over social media, shops and bars are closed, schoolkids not at school, loads of people furloughed or working from home. A hermit living in a remote corner of the Highlands entirely off grid might be unaware of the pandemic. Nobody else in the UK could be, surely?

Completely agree with this. I don't 'watch' the news or 'read' newspapers but how anyone after almost a year of this can claim to be oblivious that something is going on. Therefore, even if you don't use social media or watch the news it is on you to keep a look out for changes.

That excuse might have washed in march 20 but not jan 21!

Why did they think hand sanitiser turned up everywhere? People were wearing masks? Signs everywhere?

28 Days Stupider.

Fuck but they must have been confused for the last 10 months. Pubs closed, shops closed, work closed and everyone suddenly wearing masks.

Hope they fine the cheekily little shites, once for breaking the rules and again for their pathetic, mealie mouthed excuses.

I mean, fair play they might not watch the news but did they not wonder why all the pubs were shut?

As someone who has lived in Basingstoke, their story is entirely plausible.

Ignorance is no defence in law. End of story.

@StCharlotte

As someone who has lived in Basingstoke, their story is entirely plausible.

Because no-one there follows the news, or because it was a zombie-ridden wasteland even before the pandemic?

Everyone doesn't watch the news. The same as not everybody reads books or newspapers.

but almost everybody reads the headlines on the newspaper stand in the supermarket. even men' mags had references to covid in.
plus the plackards in front of shops.

Didn't any of them go out to a supermarket and notice markers on the floor? Didn't they notice pubs, gyms and cinemas shut or wonder why people are wearing masks in shops and in the street? Yeah, right.

Also with Hampshire Police. It was clearly more than one household to be classed as a party and the police be required. So at least two households were completely unaware after all this length of time with so many day to day obvious pointers to something unusual happening.

@faerin

I have an ex-partner who never went near anything news-related. Never watched or read the news. I wondered how long it took for him to realise there was a global pandemic.

Everyone doesn't watch the news. The same as not everybody reads books or newspapers. There's an element of classism in a response of doubt toward these people here. Sure it could be a lie, but is it honestly so surprising that not every person in the country reads the news?

Come on. Even my patients with moderate dementia have realised that there is something going on what with the masks and visiting restrictions amongst all the other signs that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. There is no way that these people don't know what's going on or at least having at least enough of an inkling to refrain from having parties of large groups of people.

*I've no idea why ^at least repeated itself twice - come on MN, we need an editing function!

So did they think masks were just a fashion statement then

I have a relative who has no tv, no computer or smart phone (therefore no social media) and doesn't have a newspaper. He knows theres a pandemic going on.
I'd be impressed at someone managing to organise a party without going to a shop that had any mention of it, or order everything online and not come across any extra notices/delays to delivery etc!

Because no-one there follows the news, or because it was a zombie-ridden wasteland even before the pandemic? [grin}

This apocalypse has a sad lack of zombies and mutants.

In my county, I feel ashamed of them 🤦🏼‍♀️

Oh come on!
My dds don’t watch the news but they knew about it long before went into lockdown last year.

Unless someone has been stranded on a desert island or in a coma for the last year, they know.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Because no-one there follows the news, or because it was a zombie-ridden wasteland even before the pandemic? [grin}

This apocalypse has a sad lack of zombies and mutants.

The whole excuse reminds me of that sequence in Shaun of the Dead where he goes out to the shop for his diet coke and Cornetto without at any point noticing the zombies shambling around, blood and signs of scuffles in the shop, etc.

No I get that some idiots aren’t aware of what the rules are , but unless you are from another planet or been in a coma then you know about the pandemic.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

IANAL, but ignorance of the law is no defence, is it?

Correct - I was going to post exactly this.