Tenant given UK’s first ‘coronavirus injunction’ after hosting 20 people for house parties

‘Residents must realise that the restrictions put in place by the Government are to minimise the spread of the virus and must be adhered to’

Housing association Mosscare St Vincent’s requested the legal order after receiving complaints from worried neighbours (Google Maps)

A Manchester court has ruled against a tenant who was reported to be holding noisy house parties with more than 20 guests at a time in what is believed to be the first injunction imposed to enforce new government rules on coronavirus.

Housing association Mosscare St Vincent’s requested the legal order after receiving complaints from worried neighbours concerned over the flouting of social distancing guidance.

Handed down by the court on Friday, the order comes as the first week of some of the most stringent restrictions of individual freedoms to be handed down by the UK in peacetime begins to draw to a close.

Matt Jones, director of customers at Mosscare St Vincent’s, said: “Residents must realise that the restrictions put in place by the Government are to minimise the spread of the virus and must be adhered to.

“We will continue to take appropriate action to ensure that residents living in our communities are kept safe during this time of unprecedented risk.”

Secured at Preston Crown Court, the injunction prohibits any visitors to the tenant, who has not been named for legal reasons, other than their children.

The restriction will hold until government guidance on social distancing changes, and carries the risk of a possible prison sentence for contempt of court if broken.

Amy Stirton, associate solicitor at Forbes Solicitors, who worked with the housing association to get the injunction, said: “As a team, we are very well equipped to continue taking urgent steps to protect our clients’ residents and ensure that reckless behaviour is addressed in the most serious way by the Courts.

“The Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides an array of tools that can be utilised by landlords during this national emergency and this case demonstrates that whilst the court is now compelled to suspend proceedings relating to possession cases, it is still prepared to take steps to ensure that members of the public are protected.”

It comes as police officers are granted new powers to break up social gatherings and enforce measures designed to limit the spread of the virus, which has so far killed 759 people across the country.

Earlier this week In Coventry police broke up a group of 20 people holding a barbecue near a lockup, tipping over the grill and sending residents home just a day after restrictions were announced by the government.

At the time West Midlands Police said officers were shocked to find the group – which included a toddler – “freely mingling and standing shoulder to shoulder round a buffet”.