Police gatecrash Bonnyrigg disco to say 'massive thank you' for fundraising effort

Billy Dempsey raised over £7,000 for the NHS.

Police interrupted a Facebook Livestream disco broadcast from a Bonnyrigg living room on Saturday night.

But while they made their entrance calling sternly that the music was too loud, the real reason the two officers were there was to issue a thank you message to DJ Billy Dempsey and his wife Louise, who have raised over £7,000 for the NHS through disco fundraisers.

The two officers took to the dancefloor after their message.

The officers, known only as the ‘two Kevins’, took the microphone Mr Dempsey was using to broadcast to over 1,000 people, and issued a pre-prepared message to listeners telling them to continue to stay at home and thanking the Dempseys for all their fundraising work.

“It was quite humbling really, and it was great to get that recognition,” said Mr Dempsey, who did not know what the officers were going to say in advance.

The two Kevins visited Mr Dempsey last Monday after he used a Facebook Live disco to fundraise for the NHS and managed to pull in over £7,000 in donations.

They asked if they could ‘gatecrash’ the next broadcast, but did not give a precise time as they would be out on the rounds.

The officers did not tell Billy the content of their message beforehand.

They also visited Mr Dempsey’s neighbours to check they were not bothered by the discos.

“The officer just said he had cleared it with his Sergeant and that’s all we knew,” said Mr Dempsey.

The two Kevins then turned up while Mr Dempsey was running through the ‘boybands and girlbands’ portion of his set.

DJ Billy Dempsey with wife Louise and daughter Kara.

His wife Louise caught the visit on film – while trying hard to maintain a two metre distance from the officers.

The clip has since been viewed almost 60,000 times.

“It started off as a bit of a laugh and it’s just gone mental,” said Mr Dempsey, a painter and decorator who runs City Discos as a DJ at weekends.

“I’ve just stopped looking at Facebook notifications, every 15 minutes it goes up by 100 views.”

The officers gave a sombre warning to listeners.

“The number of Covid-19 deaths is accelerating. We’re all at risk, and soon it is likely you, I, or at least someone you know, will be suffering. A huge amount of work is taking place right now to help contain the virus,” they said.

They then thanked Louise and Billy Dempsey for their work: “As a result of many people’s efforts, including Billy and Louise raising awareness and funds, we want to say thank you for your donations. This goes a long way to assist medical staff in comforting and providing care to you, I, or people we may know who need it. Billy and Louise, from the emergency services, a massive thank you.”

They also asked listeners to continue staying at home.

“Each and every one of you listening, again a massive thank you for your donations supporting the NHS and emergency staff. Folks, please continue to help us by staying at home. It is essential, please please please essential journeys only.”

They ended on a lighter note: “While staying at home, let’s see how hard this DJ work actually is. Come on Kev, hit the button.”

After giving their message the officers hit play on the next song Mr Dempsey had queued up, and took their leave.

“They were in the house for about three and a half, four minutes,” Mr Dempsey said.

Mr Dempsey then continued with the rest of his set – a mix of genres – until 10pm.

After three livestreams in a row, he will be taking this Saturday off for a rest before returning on April 18 for a night full of ‘proper, proper dancy stuff’.