Man, 72, who 'breached Covid rules by serving mince pies and wine in lockdown' JAILED for six months

Man, 72, who ‘breached Covid rules by serving mince pies and wine in lockdown at his shooting club’ is JAILED for six months for attempting to ‘destroy CCTV evidence’ after police launched an investigation

A man, 72, who served mince pies and wine in lockdown has been jailed
Maurice Snelling claimed he thought that he was in Tier 2 not Tier 3
He was given six months behind bars for perverting the course of justice

Published: 21:01 EST, 9 November 2022 | Updated: 21:19 EST, 9 November 2022

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A pensioner who broke Covid lockdown rules by serving wine and mince pies at a shooting club has been jailed.

Maurice Snelling, 72, claimed he thought he was in Tier 2 not Tier 3 and was allowed to serve alcohol along with a substantial meal at Cloudside Shooting Grounds in 2020.

However at the time venues in Staffordshire were only allowed to operate as a takeaway or a drive-through.

The 72-year-old thought his venue, which has a CW12 Cheshire postcode, was outside of Staffordshire, the BBC reported.

After police launched an investigation and asked Snelling for CCTV footage, he contacted a contractor to remove the hard drive from the security system.

Snelling, of Cloudside, had pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing and was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in prison at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Maurice Snelling, 72, was jailed after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice after serving mince pies and wine at Cloudside Shooting Grounds in 2020

Circuit Judge David Fletcher said the defendant would have known which county he was in having lived in the area for 30 years and had his bins emptied by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

He said: ‘I find it hard to believe that Mr Snelling didn’t know which lockdown tier he was in.’

Residents reported concerns about gatherings at the club, between Congleton and Rushton Spencer, in December 2020 and January 2021, BBC reported.

The judge said: ‘[Snelling] is anti-establishment, especially to the police. He doesn’t like being told what to do. He treated police with resentment.’