Police apologise after a lady was fined for breaching coronavirus laws at Newcastle Central Station

A woman who was fined for breaking the new coronavirus laws is set to have her conviction overturned.

Marie Dinou, 41, from York, was arrested at around 8am on Saturday, March 28 at Newcastle Central Station after refusing to tell officers her reason for travelling.

On Monday, March 30, Dinou appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court where she was fined £660.

Following a joint review between British Transport Police (BTP) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it has been established that Marie was charged under the wrong section of the Coronavirus Act.

Magistrates have now been asked to relist the case and to overturn the conviction.

Despite this, BTP Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock defended the actions of the arresting officers saying: “There will be understandable concern that our interpretation of this new legislation has resulted in an ineffective prosecution.

“This was in circumstances where officers were properly dealing with someone who was behaving suspiciously in the station, and who staff believed to be travelling without a valid ticket.

“Officers were rightfully challenging her unnecessary travel.”

Mr Hanstock also issued an apology to Marie Dinou, adding: “Regardless, we fully accept that this shouldn’t have happened and we apologise.

“It is highly unusual that a case can pass through a number of controls in the criminal justice process and fail in this way.”

BTP are not believed to be looking for any further conviction relating to the matter.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.