Hastings woman fined after breaching lockdown on St Leonards seafront

Deborah Cutting, 54, was arrested on January 5 by officers responding to reports of a group of people gathering daily to exercise together on St Leonards seafront.

Police said officers attempted to engage with Cutting – the organiser of the group – but she ‘failed to comply with their requests’, a police spokesman added.

She was charged and released with bail conditions. She was further arrested on January 14 for breaching those bail conditions, according to police, and was remanded in custody to appear in court the following day.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on January 15, 2021, Cutting pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a direction in relation to events/gatherings in England in order to control coronavirus, police confirmed.

She was ordered to pay an £80 fine, court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £34, a police spokesman said.

The Government’s Covid-19 regulations state exercise is permitted outdoors but only with those from your household or one other person from outside of your household.