Coronavirus: Piers Corbyn Sheffield charges dropped

  • Published
Protest in SheffieldImage source, Dan Collis
Image caption,

Charges against Piers Corbyn (second from the right) have been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service

Criminal charges against the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in relation to an anti-mask protest in Sheffield have been dropped.

Piers Corbyn, 73, was alleged to have arranged, facilitated and taken part in a gathering of more than 30 people in South Yorkshire on 5 September.

He was also accused of failing to wear a face covering in a public space.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had "decided that the legal test for a prosecution was not met".

In a statement, it said it had considered the evidence under legislation brought in following the coronavirus outbreak.

The CPS said a review had been carried out in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

It said there were "a number of exemptions to the Health Protection (Coronarvirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 which in this case would not be able to be disproved".

Mr Corbyn, of East Street, south-east London, had been due to appear before Sheffield magistrates this month.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, external, Twitter, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.