Back to the sound of bird song – and the rumble of early morning traffic on the A46 – this Monday morning. Peace at last. Thoughts on rebellion and demisting glasses coming up.
Commenting on the illegal rave that brought more than 3,000 people to Charmy Down just outside Bath in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency in the North East Somerset ward of Bathavon North, Bath MP Wera Hobhouse said:
“We are in the midst of a pandemic. Those who organised and attended the rave that lasted from Saturday night well into Sunday recklessly endangered themselves and everyone they will be coming into contact with after this mass gathering.”
“Due to the loud music played at the rave, many Bath residents lost precious hours of sleep. I am especially concerned about the impact of this event on the wellbeing of nearby residents and on animals on the farms surrounding the rave site.”
“I have been briefed by Chief Constable Andy Marsh. Avon and Somerset Police have my full support. It’s important that the public understands what our hard-working police force is up against.”
“Between 5pm on Friday 17 July to 8am on Monday 20 July, the police received 1,017 calls to 999 requiring an immediate emergency response and a further 914 which needed a priority response. The incidents they attended resulted in 178 people being taken into custody.”
“Our teams dealt with a life-threatening stabbing at a street party and four collisions involving the deaths of two pedestrians. Officers were trying to find 39 missing people – including nine assessed to be high risk. There were 95 calls reporting concern for welfare and 36 for people in mental health crisis. Officers also had 79 reports of domestic assault to respond to.”
“14 officers were injured while trying to help people and protect the public, facing being spat at, biting, scratching, punching, kicking, pushing and verbal abuse – including racial abuse. These officers remained on duty – including one who returned to work immediately after treatment to a dislocated shoulder.”
“Avon and Somerset Police pulled officers away from front-line response duties to form a dedicated unit to respond to reports of unlicensed music events.”
“This team successfully prevented one such event near Frome on Saturday night – but were then deployed to Upper Swainswick near Bath to prevent any more people turning up to a rave which was already underway when they had the first call. They called in officers who were not working and other forces in order to close the event down by Sunday afternoon. They seized five vehicles and sound equipment and made one arrest. A post-incident review is ongoing and robust action will be taken against those found to be responsible.”
Wera concluded:
“Our nation’s police forces have been underfunded by successive Tory Governments over recent years. As we emerge from lockdown and face an uncertain future, our Government are asking our police to do more with less. This is not a sustainable situation – we have to give our police force greater resources if we want them to be successful. This event took place in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s constituency. I look forward to working with him to support our shared police force at this critical time.”
