Man fine £10K for organising illegal rave in Thetford Forest
A man involved in organising an illegal rave in Thetford Forest in August has been fined £10,000.
Police say a fixed penalty notice has been issued to a 23 year-old man from the Newmarket area following an unlicensed music event back in August.
More than 500 people attended the event in an isolated area of the forest near to the English Heritage site Grimes Graves on Saturday 29th August.
Over 100 specialist officers from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire were deployed to shut it down.
The event was ended by police by 6.30pm the following day.
Three men were arrested at the scene and each issued with a £100 fine, another man was later arrested following the event and also issued with a fine.
Police say the man in his 20's fined for being involved in the organisation of the event voluntarily attended Bury St Edmunds police station in September where he was interviewed about his involvement.
In addition to the arrests and fines, officers also seized audio equipment, generators, the rig, and a large flat-bed lorry, that was used to transport the equipment.
Norfolk Constabulary's Assistant Chief Constable, Nick Davison, who led the operation, said: "Due to the nature of the location and the number of people in attendance, it was a challenging event to disrupt and a significant task to shut it down.
"In doing so, bottles and cans were used as missiles and thrown at officers and we called in resources from three other forces.
"It also caused concern in the local community.
"Over the past few months, we have been working hard to try to trace the organisers and do everything in our power, supported by evidence, to find out who was responsible and bring them to justice.
"I deplore their decision to organise this event, and in doing so act so recklessly and without thought for people's safety and wellbeing, and particularly at a time when coronavirus continues to be a very real threat to us all.
"I hope this sends out a very strong message that the police acting in the interest of our communities and those at the higheste risk from covid-19 will not tolerate this type of irresponsible and selfish behaviour."