A tanning salon owner was today fined £635 for breaching lockdown rules after a video showed dozens of people at a balloon release in memory of her father-in-law.
Vicki Hutchinson had faced a £10,000 fixed penalty for holding an illegal gathering of more than 30 people last November.
But that was reduced after the mother-of-three attended Peterlee Magistrates Court in County Durham to admit the offence.
The 34-year-old said outside court: When you lose someone, you don t think, do you? There will be some people who say you shouldn t have done it because we were in lockdown but I believe we should have the right to do things.
Woman happy to pay Covid fine for balloon release honouring late father-in-law
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Woman happy to pay Covid fine for balloon release honouring late father-in-law
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Woman faces £10k fine for releasing balloons in memory of father-in-law I m not paying you anything
Updated
Vicki Hutchinson and her late father-in-law Ian Stephenson (Image: ChronicleLive)
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