Coronavirus: Police called to more than 400 house parties in Scotland over weekend as men charged with 'assaulting police officers' in Edinburgh

Police were called to 405 house parties in Scotland at the weekend.
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In one incident on Sunday morning in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, two officers were allegedly assaulted and the car windows of two police cars were smashed.

Two men, both aged 47, have been charged in connection with the incident.

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A total of six people were arrested across Scotland over the weekend, with one fine also issued.

Police were called to 405 house parties across Scotland over the weekend. Pic: Police ScotlandPolice were called to 405 house parties across Scotland over the weekend. Pic: Police Scotland
Police were called to 405 house parties across Scotland over the weekend. Pic: Police Scotland

A 21-year-old man was charged in Motherwell for obstructing officers as they responded to a house party in a tower block at about 11:30pm on Friday.

Police said they responded to 1,852 reports of noise, public nuisance and disturbance across the country - an increase of 41 percent compared to the same weekend last year.

DCC Malcolm Graham said: "The figures from this weekend show that we will use the powers we have to disperse parties which breach the regulations and will enforce where necessary. We will not tolerate blatant disregard for the legislation which is there to help stop the spread of the virus.

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"I'm extremely disappointed to learn that two officers were allegedly assaulted while responding to a party in Edinburgh. Our officers find themselves dealing with situations on a daily basis to protect the people and communities we serve, and are trained to a high level to deal with violent and confrontational situations. However, being assaulted is not simply part of the job and it cannot be tolerated.”

Details of the weekend incidents emerged as a new law came into force in Scotland on Monday which limits social gatherings to a maximum of six people from two households.

The rule applies indoors and outdoors and includes settings like people’s homes, private gardens, pubs, beer gardens and restaurants.

Previously, up to eight people from three different households were allowed to meet indoors, with 15 people from five households able to meet outside.

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Earlier today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reiterated the need for the public to stick to the new rules, with the average number of daily cases trebling in recent weeks.

Ms Sturgeon also said more than 900,000 people have now downloaded Scotland's contact tracing app, which allows people to receive a notification if someone they have been in close contact with gets Covid-19.

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