Ex-senior officer 'saddened' that Covid marshal stopping jogger for breathing heavily
14 January 2021, 12:05
Former Met DAC responds to Covid marshall stopping jogger
This is the moment a former Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner [DAC] told LBC he was "saddened" that a Covid marshal stopped a jogger for breathing heavily.
Gary Purnell was jogging in London along the River Thames when he says he was stopped by a Covid marshal who told him his breathing was too heavy.
Former Met Police DAC Andy Trotter told LBC's Nick Ferrari: "I'm really saddened that we're in this situation because it overshadows what is obviously the general every day good work."
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He added: "I was really fed up when I saw some of these stories.
"If you're doing this around risk [and] what's the risk of transmission...you do it in a proportionate way."
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He continued: "It's not my evidence. It's the scientific evidence. In the open air is not a major risk of transmission."
There has been controversy over the policing of Covid rules after the Derbyshire Police rescinded a fine given to two women who were on a country walk drinking peppermint tea, which they said was categorised as a "picnic."
The UK is currently in the grip of coronavirus, and earlier it was announced Scotland be getting plunged into even tighter restrictions from Saturday to combat the disease.
