Sheffield student found in Coventry handed Covid-19 fine
West Midlands PoliceA student who was stopped by police while attempting a 360-mile round-trip to Heathrow Airport has been fined.
The 20-year-old was spotted driving erratically in Coventry city centre on Friday and a check revealed the car was registered in Sheffield.
West Midlands Police said the driver, who had a passenger with him, admitted he intended to give his friend a lift to Heathrow to save them a taxi fare.
He was handed a standard £60 fine and told to go home.
Sgt Darren Walden said the trip was "astonishing", particularly coming just a day after the government extended lockdown restrictions.
"The driver came down to the city with his flatmate and was in the process of picking up a friend who had a flight booked from Heathrow," Sgt Walden said.
"The excuse the driver gave was that he wanted to save his friend paying for a taxi - and felt he was OK making the journey as he was wearing a mask."
Earlier, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson revealed the force had handed out a total of 139 fixed charge penalty notices to people who had flouted the lockdown rules, which he described as "not too much in a population of three million".
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