TWO Bromsgrove men, one from Droitwich and one from Kidderminster have been banned from every hospital in England after broadcasting inside the Alexandra and Queen Elizabeth in January, claiming Covid was a ‘hoax’.
The group claimed their footage showed hospitals were ‘quiet’ and ‘always empty’ and the ‘NHS was not being overwhelmed.
Footage of those visits was said to have been posted to social media but deleted shortly afterwards.
Insp Lee Page said: “West Mercia Police received numerous complaints from concerned members of the public and medical staff about the actions of a group of individuals who were live-streaming from hospital sites in Worcestershire, protesting the pandemic was a hoax.
“The men were not wearing face coverings or socially distancing and some of them were challenging hospital staff, accusing them of spreading fake news and claiming there was no national emergency and no pandemic.
“The behaviour of these people disrupted the running of the hospitals, tied up valuable resources and caused alarm and distress to patients and staff, some of whom made official complaints to police.”
West Mercia Police issued written warnings to all four under Part 4 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.
The warnings directed them not to enter any hospital in England unless for medical reasons, as well as prohibiting a number of other anti-social activities.
Officers also reported all those involved for fixed penalty notices due to breaches of the Health Protection Regulations.
Insp Page added: “I hope this case highlights that although everyone is entitled to freedom of speech and freedom of expression, when this negatively impacts on the health of NHS staff, patients and the wider community, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action to keep the public safe.”
The four were criticised by Bromsgrove doctor David Nicholl who works on the Covid frontline at a hospital in Birmingham.
He said at the time they needed to ‘grow up’ and take coronavirus and the pandemic seriously.
“We’re only going to get through this if we work together.
“I’m fed up of seeing videos of people wandering around empty hospitals.
“We are extremely busy and it’s important people in the local area treat this with the gravity that they should.”
The men have not been named in accordance with West Mercia Police’s policy to not name people who are dealt with via fixed penalty notice.
