A man involved in organising an unlicensed music event in Thetford Forest has been given a £10,000 fixed penalty notice.
It follows an August bank holiday event at an isolated area of the forest, near to the English Heritage site Grimes Graves, which started on August 28.
Police were called at about 11.20pm on August 29 when a member of the public reported seeing large numbers of cars queuing to access a fire route.
MORE: Police battle to shut down Thetford Forest raveMore than 100 specialist officers from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire were involved in eventually shutting it down at 6.30pm on August 30.
In excess of 500 people attended the event and there were 100 vehicles on site.
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 £100 fine.
A 23-year-old man from the Newmarket area has now been fined £10,000 for being involved in the organisation or facilitation of an event of 30 or more people.
In September he had voluntarily attended Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre where he was interviewed about his involvement in the event.
He was released while enquiries continued. This week he was issued with the fixed penalty notice.
Norfolk Police’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 on resources from three other forces. It also caused concern in the local community.
MORE: Woodland bosses slam ‘deeply selfish’ ravers who partied in Thetford Forest“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 interests of our communities and those at the highest risk from Covid-19 will not tolerate this type of irresponsible and selfish behaviour.”
In addition to the arrests and fines, police also seized audio equipment, generators, the rig and a large flat-bed lorry that was used to transport the equipment.
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