A massive order at KFC in Dandenong in Melbourne’s south-east alerted police to an unlawful gathering. Victorian police ended up issuing 16 fines for the breach of the state’s newly re-imposed stay-at-home directions, totalling $26,000.
And here we were thinking $35 for 21 pieces of chicken was a bit steep. An early-AM KFC run in Melbourne’s south-east has proven a severely misjudged decision for a group celebrating a birthday at a house in the local area.
The Guardian reports that two people ordered enough to feed 20 at the Dandenong KFC around 1.30am on Friday morning. It’s the perfect crime, right? Show up as a duo and then deliver to a mass group hidden in a suburban home. It’s not like the police would be door-knocking at that time of night.
However, there were ambulance workers present at the KFC, who notified police after witnessing the bulk order. Police followed the offenders’ car to a house where they discovered people hiding anywhere they could – in the backyard, garage and even under the bed.
“That is absolutely ridiculous that type of behaviour, and it’s a very expensive night,” said Victoria’s police commissioner Shane Patton. Patton revealed that 16 fines were handed out at the house. “That’s $26,000 that birthday party is costing them,” he said. “That’s a heck of a birthday party to recall and they’ll remember that one for a long time.”
The reimposition of stage 3 lockdown restrictions came into effect in metropolitan Melbourne on Thursday, July 9th. Patton reported that police had issued a total of 60 infringement notices within the first day and a half of the new lockdown. The urgency of this lockdown can’t be disputed, though, with the state reporting 288 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
Melbourne’s coronavirus spike has led premier Daniel Andrews and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth to urge residents to start wearing masks. “This means if you have to leave your home for any of those reasons for which it is permissible and you are likely to find yourself in a situation where you cannot maintain 1.5-metre distance, it is advisable to be covering your face with a mask,” Dr Coatsworth said on Thursday.
