Jobsworth cop orders baker to remove chalk social-distancing lines for customers claiming ‘there will be anarchy’
A JOBSWORTH cop ordered a bakery to remove CHALK social distancing lines for customers – claiming “otherwise there will be anarchy”.
The officer threatened Grodz bakery with an £120 fine for criminal damage after deputy manager Gemma Migdal sprayed the lines on the pavement to “protect” punters.
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She was stunned when the officer likened the social distancing lines, which have popped up in shops across the UK to help stem the spread of the disease, to protesters wrecking London landmarks.
Shocking footage shows the cop accusing her “graffitiing” the pavement with the non-permanent chalk spray in Edgware, North West London, today.
He told her: “‘I can’t help the law. We’re going to be ticketing soon to stop people congregating – is that wrong too?”
But Gemma replies: “This is not graffiti, it’s chalk, it washes off. So you would rather all my customers don’t stand two metres apart? I’m doing it for people’s safety – to stop the spread of coronavirus.”
The officer can then be heard telling her: “It doesn’t matter. It’s criminal damage. It’s the law.”
He then demands Gemma wash the chalk away or she will be “committing another offence” – but the defiant manager tells him she will happily get “another ticket, and another ticket and another ticket”.
As the clip comes to an end, the cop says: “The law doesn’t stop unfortunately. It’s still a criminal offence. The law is the law and it doesn’t change because of what is happening. There would be anarchy in the world”.
Gemma told The Sun Online she was stunned by the “ridiculous” confrontation today but has since been told she is allowed to spray the lines on the pavement.
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She added: “It was washable chalk. I was saying it will wash away but he said all the anarchists spray chalk and it’s still criminal damage.
“I had to say I wasn’t doing it for a political statement but was just protecting customers and staff. We’ve been really busy and telling people only five come in at a time.
“I just wanted to keep them safe.
“The whole thing is ridiculous, he was trying to tell me to draw lines on the glass of the shopfront instead but that isn’t teaching people to keep their distance from each other.
“All of this was happening in front of actual graffiti on the walls around us.
“I imagine he’ll be embarrassed now, it was definitely the wrong thing to focus on in this day and age.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they would be speaking with the officer about his conduct and said no fine was issued in the end.
A spokesperson said: “The actions shown in this video do not reflect the current policing style that the MPS seeks to adopt. The officer has been spoken to and all staff on the borough will be reminded about using discretion where appropriate in these exceptional times.”
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