A support group for people struggling with lockdown was broken up by police for breaching Covid rules earlier this year.
Officers doubted that the meditation session at Shredfast Wellbeing Centre, off Long Lane, was really a mental health support meeting as there was “no wellbeing paperwork available” and “nobody appeared to be distressed”.
Around 20 people were fined for breaking lockdown laws at around 11pm on January 30 when officers broke up the meeting, on the upper floor of one of the units at The Dairy Business Park.
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Police had originally gone to the industrial estate for a separate incident but were made aware of the meeting at Shredfast when one of the attendees approached them to say the police presence was causing further distress.
According to a statement by PC Natalie Hayward provided to Wirral Magistrates’ Cour t on Friday (August 13) and now released to the press, police were told it was a meeting for “mental health sufferers and those who are on the brink of suicide”.
PC Hayward said: “Inside this room there were 18 individuals sat on yoga mats, around the room. They were surrounding a sheet on the centre of the floor which had candles and wellbeing stones sat on top.
“Everyone present appeared calm and compliant and showed no distress and no distress to police presence apart from one individual female who was dealt with by a colleague.
“No persons present were wearing or in possession of any personal protective equipment, there was a lack of ventilation due to all windows and doors being closed meaning that inside the room it was very warm and humid.
“Several of the persons present were in possession of musical instruments and there was nothing to suggest that this was a mental health support meeting (for example there was no wellbeing paperwork available, no leaflets, no advice/information readily available).”
PC Hayward added that several people present had travelled from Cheshire, Southport and Knowsley to attend the meeting.
Another officer, PC Stacey Rooke, said: “From what I could see nobody appeared to be distressed despite the suggestion that people were feeling extremely down and suicidal therefore questions were ask[ed] whether this was a reasonable excuse to be gathering in a large group.”
Three of the people fined for attending the meeting saw their cases brought to court and dealt with under the single justice procedure, which allows one magistrate to deal with allegations on the basis of written evidence only during a private hearing with no lawyers, press or public present.
Of those, only one ended up being fined by the magistrate. Shaun Humphries, 30, of Gardner Road in Tuebrook, pleaded guilty to attending an indoor gathering of two or more people and was fined £1,173.
He was also ordered to pay £100 in costs and £117 as a surcharge to fund victim services.
The two other people who had their cases dealt with on Friday, 22-year-old Joseph Duggan of Murry Close in West Derby and 26-year-old Eleanor Parsons of Kremlin Drive in Old Swan, saw the charges against them dismissed.
The reasons for the dismissal have not been released to the public.
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