Nine police officers who had breakfast together inside cafe fined for breaching lockdown

Nine police officers who had breakfast together inside a cafe have been fined for breaching COVID lockdown rules on duty.

The officers, from the Metropolitan Police, were fined £200 each and told to “reflect on their choices.”

They were spotted by IT manager Brian Jennings walking past the cafe near their base beside the River Thames at 9am earlier this month, a week into the latest lockdown.

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Mr Jennings, who reported the breach, told MailOnline: “We noticed in the first lockdown and again today that regularly, first thing in the morning, there will be half-a-dozen squad cards outside and every table full of police officers having breakfast in there.

“You read about people getting fined and it seems hypocritical as it looks like there is little social distancing in the cafe.

“I find the regular and continued flouting of social distancing and lockdown regulations by the police hypocritical and foolish at this time when the infection rates in Greenwich borough are among the highest in the UK.”

Photographs of apparent uniformed officers sitting inside the Chef House Kitchen, with several marked police cars parked outside, were published by MailOnline.

Their bosses launched an investigation and chose to fine them without any other disciplinary action.

They may be the first on-duty emergency workers to be given fixed penalty notices since the first pandemic lockdown began in March last year.

Chief Superintendent Rob Atkin, South East Commander, said: “Police officers are tasked with enforcing the legislation that has been introduced to stop the spread of the virus and the public rightly expect that they will set an example through their own actions.

“It is disappointing that on this occasion, these officers have fallen short of that expectation. It is right that they will pay a financial penalty and that they will be asked to reflect on their choices.”

The fines come after the force’s commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, launched a clampdown on COVID rule breakers.

Over the past weekend, the force handed out nearly £40,000 worth of fines for COVID breaches in east London alone.

It is not known if the cafe owner has been fined, which, according to police, is a matter for Greenwich Borough Council.

Sky News has approached the council for comment.

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