An Edinburgh resident has accused the police of being ‘heavy handed’ in enforcing lockdown measures that limit what people can do out of doors.
Ben* contacted Edinburgh Live to say he had been told off by police officers for sitting on a bench in Holyrood Park while out for his permitted daily exercise.
He explained: “I was just sitting there, minding my own business, not breaking any rules, as I thought, not too close to other people, just having a sit down for five minutes before I went home.
“I was out for my daily walk and I’d stopped to rest for a moment and these two police officers come up, and the lady officer says, 'are you aware the guidelines state it has to be a period of continuous exercise? And that means no sitting down'."
“I said I hadn’t heard that. So of course I got up and headed home – I walked past plenty of other folk sitting on benches.
“What gets me is when I looked it up, the law doesn’t say anything about not sitting down or continuous exercise that I could find.”
Ben said he understood the need for a lockdown and has been diligently following the new measures, but he disagreed with what the police had told him.
“I’m happy to follow the rules, but they’ve started making up new ones. I’m doing social distancing, I’ve been shut away in my house, going out once a day, not seeing anyone – meanwhile you’ve got the Chief Medical Officer swanning off to her second home.
“And you’ve got the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, and he’s breaking quarantine after he’s got the disease – and here I’ve got the bench police telling me sitting down outside is illegal now?
“Seems it’s one rule for us and another for them.”
“It’s not like I was lounging in the sun for hours," he added. "It was literally a brief, five minute sit down to catch my breath before going home – what about the elderly or people with disabilities, are you going to tell them they can’t sit down now too?”
Ben was keen to point out that he understood the police were working under difficult circumstances.
“If that’s the law, fine, I’ll do it happily. I respect the police, they’re doing a tough job at the moment. But if some officers are using this lockdown an excuse to make up the rules as they go along, I’m not ok with that.
“I just want some clarity on the rules.”
What does the law say?
On March 27 the Scottish Government said it had introduced new measures and given the police powers to enforce them. Under these measures people were allowed to leave their house for “daily exercise, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household”.
It was not specified that it had to be ‘continuous’ or that sitting down was not allowed while outside.
At the weekend Health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that sunbathing was against the rules. He confirmed that the rules about going outside had not changed but said that if people flout them “we might have to take further action”.
The BBC reported on Sunday (April 5) Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said the rules in place were "the best way to be able to bend the curve down and stop the spread of the virus".
"It is not just what you are doing but how you are doing it," she added.
"If you are sitting on a park bench, people tend to accumulate - it is very difficult to prevent that."
What do the police say?
Chief Superintendent Sean Scott, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh, told Edinburgh Live: "The overwhelming majority of the public have been complying with the restrictions. We recognise these measures place a number of challenging demands on the public, but it's really important that people comply in order to save lives and protect the NHS.
"In the course of our daily patrols we have identified some people who are out and about, or gathering in groups, without a reasonable excuse and we have taken the appropriate action on these occasions, by engaging with them, explaining the legislation, encouraging compliance, and if necessary taking enforcement action as a last resort."
"The fair weather we experienced over the weekend may have prompted people to leave their homes, and we will closely monitor the situation over the next few weeks to make sure that people are not placing themselves or others at risk.
"I want to thank everyone supporting the effort to tackle the spread of Covid-19, whether in their role as a key worker, or by simply staying at home. "As we approach the Easter weekend, I would again reiterate the importance of complying with these instructions so that together we can limit the impact on the NHS and save lives."
*names have been changed.
