It was the night the Prime Minister was pictured raising a glass of fizz at a leaving party at the height of lockdown. Some 150 miles away in Cardiff a student had just been seen at a gathering in a flat.
The teenager told police he was in the flat to look after an unwell friend. But as one South Wales Police officer wrote in her report "this excuse did not seem reasonable" because the student was carrying a can of alcohol.
The presence of alcohol was less decisive when it came to the Metropolitan Police view on Boris Johnson attending the Downing Street leaving do for communications boss Lee Cain. Not only was the Prime Minister photographed raising a toast but he was surrounded by two bottles of champagne or cava, four bottles of wine, and half a bottle of gin.
Read next: Court papers detail the real-life fines handed out to people in Wales for meeting others in lockdown
Like Wales, London was under strict coronavirus lockdown on November 13, 2020, with a ban on separate households gathering indoors amid soaring cases. We have obtained a court document showing a raft of fixed penalty notices were issued that night to Cardiff University students at the Talybont halls. Some of those students may have read recent 'Partygate' headlines with interest.
The Met reportedly concluded that Mr Johnson's attendance of the leaving do was "work-related". This is despite fines being issued to some others who were present. The event was reportedly attended by about 30 people — significantly more than were at some of the events from the same night which saw Cardiff students fined.
Experts have suggested it may have helped Mr Johnson's case that he did not technically have to leave his home to attend the do because he lives in the same Downing Street building. Such a defence did not seem available to the two Cardiff students who were fined on the same night having been caught in a ground-floor gathering while living on the first floor of the same building.
The parties in Cardiff on November 13, 2020
We have obtained PC Notley's report from the night, which says she and three other officers attended Talybont Court student accommodation at around 11.30pm. She described "loud music and flashing lights" inside a flat where police found eight students had gathered. One said she had thought 15 people were allowed to meet indoors and that she had travelled from her flat in Talybont North. She received a £60 fixed penalty notice.
The officers moved onto Talybont South where they saw six students leaving a ground-floor flat. Two of the teenagers said they lived on the next floor up. They both received £60 fines.
PC Notley then headed to another part of Talybont South where she saw a group of students exit a flat and attempt to walk down the stairs. They admitted they did not live in the flat and at least one £60 fine was issued (only the notices handed out by PC Notley herself are documented in her report).
Moving onto another flat in Talybont South PC Notley wrote: "University security have entered [the address] and asked students if they live at the address. They have then directed the students who do not live at the address to give their details to an officer outside. University security have directed a male towards myself.
"[The student] advised he attended to look after a friend who was sick. However, this excuse did not seem reasonable to myself as he left [the address] carrying a can of alcohol, suggesting he was at a gathering." The student was fined £60.
PC Notley then handed notices to two others in the flat. One of the pair initially gave incorrect personal details until he was threatened with arrest. For reasons which are not clear that student did not pay the £60 fine within 28 days and his case was brought to court. He pleaded guilty to being at the gathering and was fined £300 on top of £90 in prosecution costs and a £30 victim services surcharge.
Inequality of treatment?
The Prime Minister is reported to have attended six parties during lockdown though he has only received a fixed penalty notice for one of them — his birthday party in June 2020 where he shared cake with around 30 others. It is not only those fined in Cardiff who are likely to feel a sense of inequality of treatment but also many of the junior Downing Street employees.
ITV reports that there is a feeling in Downing Street of "injustice and considerable upset" that the 126 partygate fines have been levied disproportionately on women and junior officials. One source told the broadcaster: “The majority of [those fined] are very junior diary managers etc on £24k-ish and these fines are really stacking up for them. Typically they are getting fined for events they were at with their males bosses who seem to have got away no problem."
Earlier this month the Met's acting deputy commissioner Helen Ball said: “Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed and the importance of ensuring that we had strong evidence for each FPN (fixed penalty notice) referral. This investigation is now complete.”
And acting Met commissioner Sir Stephen House told the London Assembly: "I accept that many of the photographs we are seeing look bad and Sue Gray's report has dealt with that. We deal with the law, not what looks bad."
He said the presence of alcohol did not necessarily mean a breach of regulations, adding: "I was involved in these decision-makings myself. I am very confident of the integrity of the decisions that were made in this investigation, which was a difficult investigation."
The Prime Minister has said he "fell short" of his own rules and people "had the right to expect better" from him. He has denied lying to Parliament about the parties but has admitted he was not correct when he told MPs that the rules were followed at all times.
