A Swadlincote woman has been fined over £2,000 for hosting an illegal New Year's Eve Party.

She was handed the penalty for breaking Covid regulations last December

Lauren Rutter, aged 19, of Majestic Place, Swadlincote, was told to pay £2,021 (£1,760 fine, £176 victim surcharge and £85 for court fees) at a June 30 hearing for hosting an illegal New Year's Eve Party involving an unstated number of people, with music blaring.

Police visited the property three times between 8.30pm and 11.47pm trying to speak to Rutter, but nobody inside the home would answer the door, resulting in three Covid breach fines for the home-owner.

One guest, at 13 minutes until the new year, shouted "get a warrant" at police.

In all, 29 cases were heard in private at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court in just three hours, handing out nearly £36,000 in overall charges to defendants who had not paid their initial £200 fines.

Also fined was Tina Dicken, aged 64, of Goseley Avenue, Hartshorne, who, after pleading guilty, was ordered to pay £891 (£733 fine, £85 court costs and £73 victim surcharge) at a hearing on June 30, after being found by police with seven adults and five children at her property on January 1.

A large number of people have been made to pay out thousands of pounds for low-level Derbyshire Covid-19 breaches which have previously resulted in far lower court payouts.

In the latest batch of closed-doors Derbyshire court hearings into Covid-19 breaches, 17 people had their initial unpaid £200 fines increased by nearly nine times that figure, to £1,760.

With court costs and victim surcharges these payouts rose to more than £2,000 – 10 times the initial fine.

These fines, at the latest batch of rapid-fire private hearings on June 30, largely saw defendants charged with Covid breaches such as having a couple of friends at their property during lockdown.