After nearly a year of pain and suffering, a mother was wrongly taken to Court over allegations that she broke Covid lockdown restrictions when co-parenting with her ex-partner.

West Mercia officers visited Andrea Lloyd’s Rubery, Worcestershire home as her ex-partner was dropping off their 13-year old son.

She was fined £200 For allegedly violating the rules, she was dragged to Redditch Magistrate Court 11 months later when she refused the sum. The case was dropped the day it was to be heard.

Covid is the current law Two households can be linked “for informal childcare” for a child 13 years or younger. Ms Lloyd’s ex David King, 54, was also part of her support bubble. 

West Mercia Police stated that it would’respect’ the decision made by the court in a statement.

The force said: “Officers were faced in unprecedented circumstances during the lockdown restrictions. We tried to strike the right balance among education and the use of the legislation.”

Now Ms Lloyd, 44, is demanding an apology, calling the ordeal ‘torture’.

“I cried and cried and continued to cry,” she said. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders,’ she explained.

Andrea Lloyd, who was wrongly taken to court over allegations she broke Covid lockdown restrictions while co-parenting with her former partner, has had the case thrown out after nearly a year of anguish

Andrea Lloyd was wrongly taken before the court to face allegations that she broke Covid lockdown restrictions when co-parenting with her ex-partner. The case was dismissed after almost a year of pain.

Magistrate throws out teen’s £10,000 Covid fine for holding a rule-breaking party as she blasts CPS and police for mishandling case 

A teenager who was fined £10,000 over an alleged Covid-breaking party has had it thrown out by a magistrate – who said police ‘bandied’ the big penalties around and blasted the CPS for mishandling the case.

Isaac Parsons (19 years old) was accused last year of hosting a party at his Wiltshire home that saw between 80-100 people.

On September 4 last year, police posted on Facebook they had issued the £10,000 notice – which would result in a criminal record – for the party after officers were called to the house in Devizes.

It was a crime to host a gathering of more 30 people in a private residence at the time. The teenager was charged under the Coronavirus Regulations.

The family appealed the fine initially and their solicitor requested a dismissal before the trial. This was on the grounds that the fixed penalty notice contained incorrect sections of law.

The Crown Prosecution Service wanted to amend this, but the District Judge at Swindon Magistrates Court refused – stating the case wouldn’t have ever come to court if the correct law was used and a £100 fine was issued. 

Isaac’s father Martin Parsons, a Deputy Chairman Political of Devizes Conservative Association, accused Wiltshire Police of ‘misconduct in public office and contempt of court’.

Isaac pleaded not guilty in February to organizing a party at his house in violation of coronavirus regulations. 

Joanna Dickens, District Judge, tossed it out and lambasted the CPS/police for how they handled it.

“I was very happy and relieved because I had spent 11 years in fear of going into prison. It was terrible and had a profound effect on my entire family. I had been terrified and I felt helpless. My son was afraid of me being taken.

“I was so scared about what would be done to my children that I became the primary carer, and the youngest was three years old.” 

West Mercia officers landed at her home in November last year and said they had had a complaint about loud music, before issuing the £200 fine for an alleged breach of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

The single mother refused the paper and they decided to post it the next day.

She tried to explain that she had formed a support bubble with Mr King, and that their son suffers from anxiety and depression. It was therefore necessary for him to come in for a handover. Ms Lloyd stated that the police were not interested.

Covid restrictions at the moment allowed for childcare handovers. She said that the men kept a safe distance in order to be safe.

Ms. Lloyd appeared in Worcester Magistrates Court on June. The trial was originally scheduled for August 11 at Redditch and was then moved to October 5. She claimed that the CPS did not appear and so a barrister was appointed.

The magistrate ruled that she could leave after the barrister argued that the case should be dismissed as she wasn’t in violation of the act. Ms. Lloyd even received compensation for her travel expenses. 

She said, “I was shocked to be fined and really upset.”

“It was awful. I don’t break any rules and I have never done anything like that. I am a law-abiding citizen. All I have done is care for others and be the best person that I can.

“I was made to feel like an inmate, and it was shocking. It was absolutely shocking. They are so stupid. They should be held accountable for what they did to me. I have been abused by the institution that should have been there to protect my rights.

“I used feel that the police kept me safe, but I no longer feel that.”

A spokesperson for CPS said that after reviewing the details of the case, they concluded that it did not meet the legal criteria for prosecution and therefore the case was discontinued.

A spokesperson for the force stated that they respected the decision of the court.

Officers from West Mercia Police were faced with extraordinary circumstances during the lockdown restrictions. We attempted to strike the right equilibrium between education and the use of the legislation.

“Together, we used the four Es approach to policing Coronavirus regulations, Engage, Explained, Encourage, and where appropriate Enforce. 

“We encourage anyone dissatisfied with West Mercia Police’s dealings to visit the feedback section of our website.   

Officers were sometimes accused of being too strict in their enforcement of coronavirus laws during the pandemic. Derbyshire Police was famously under fire at the start of the epidemic after it used drones to film dogwalkers and then posted the videos online. 

The same force was criticised during the third lockdown after it fined friends Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore £200 each for driving seven miles for a socially-distanced stroll at Foremark Reservoir.

She was fined £200 for allegedly breaking the rules and dragged to Redditch Magistrates Court 11 months later when she refused to pay the sum - but the case was dropped the day it was due to be heard

She was fined £200 for allegedly breaking the rules and dragged to Redditch Magistrates Court 11 months later when she refused to pay the sum – but the case was dropped the day it was due to be heard

It justified issuing the fixed-penalty warnings at the time by claiming that hot drinks were part of the gathering and it was therefore a picnic’. However, the force cancelled the fines following a backlash against what some regarded as overzealous interpretation of lockdown laws.   

In the third lockdown which began in January and was extended until July 19 – the so-called ‘Freedom Day’ – police across the country broke up scores of illegal raves and imposed £10,000 ‘super-fines’.  

Police issued an apology to hundreds of wrongly arrested and charged people earlier this year when it was revealed that 25% were linked to breaking lockdown.

Figures show that assaults on emergency workers, such as spitting or coughing at them, were the most common coronavirus-related crimes in the first six months.

Other cases involved police in multiple miscarriages after they failed to apply the law correctly, or unfairly targeted the public.

MailOnline reported in January that there were 1,137 charges for breaking Covid laws. The CPS stated that 286 of these prosecutions were withdrawn after alleged rulebreakers were incorrectly charged. Some victims had to go to court before the cases collapsed.

The majority of cases involved police using the wrong legislation to prosecute the people or not doing anything wrong.