London police close the ‘Partygate’ investigation and levy 126 fines

London police said Wednesday that they had completed their investigation into the “Partygate” controversy that has rocked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government and had issued a total of 126 fines.

According to the Metropolitan Police, 73 of the penalties imposed for violating COVID-19 limits were issued to women and 53 to males, but some offenders received more than one fixed penalty notice.

On eight instances between May 2020 and April last year, police were called in to investigate meetings at Downing Street and across government ministries.

The force announced last week that it had imposed more than 100 fines. The exact amount of the penalty has not been determined, although fines for the most egregious violations can vary from £30 to £10,000 (US$37 to $12,412).

Johnson, his wife, Carrie, and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have all been penalised so far.

The government stated that they had been fined for a gathering in Downing Street to commemorate the prime minister’s birthday in June 2020.

Johnson has stated that if he is fined again, he will reveal the amount.

According to the Press Association, the prime minister has not yet been notified of another fixed penalty notice.

The investigation began on January 25 and involved 12 investigators sifting through 345 documents, including e-mails, door logs, diary entries, and witness statements, as well as 510 images and security camera footage and 204 questionnaires, according to the Met.

“When COVID regulations were introduced, the Met was clear that whilst we would not routinely investigate breaches of regulations retrospectively, there may be occasions when it would be appropriate to do so,” Met Acting Deputy Commissioner Helen Ball said.

“The information that we received with regard to the alleged breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall was sufficient to reach our criteria to begin such an investigation,” she said.

“Our investigation was thorough and impartial and was completed as quickly as we could, given the amount of information that needed to be reviewed,” she said. “This investigation is now complete.”

Johnson has apologised for violating COVID-19 restrictions, but has refused to resign as the first UK leader to be found to have broken the law while in office.

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