The coronavirus regulations were introduced at the height of the lockdown in April and it took police forces around the country a little while to get used to them. 

The new rules, officially called the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (England) Regulations, made it an offence to be out of the house without a reasonable excuse. 

Very few people were arrested for breaking the rules and even fewer had to answer pleas to the case when their case came before the magistrates. Swindon prosecutors tended to take the pragmatic view that it wasn't worth proceeding with the charge when the accused faced crimes that carried much heavier penalties.

But there were some unusual allegations...

1. Riding in a wheelbarrow

Aleksandra Wojciechowska, 36, of Deacon Street, pleaded guilty to possession of a bladed article and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker when her case came before Swindon Magistrates’ Court this week.

The Crown dropped an allegation that the woman had breached the coronavirus regulations on April 9 by leaving the house for a non-essential reason, specifically to be pushed in a wheelbarrow.

But Wojciechowska admitted assaulting PC Craig Head by beating him and being in possession of an axe on the same night in April, when she was arrested in Manchester Road.

She will be sentenced in October.

2. Flashing his anus at Tesco worker

This Is Wiltshire:

Farmer Christopher Padget, 44, who flashed his anus at a Tesco store worker then led police on a five-mile chase, was originally charged with breaching the coronavirus regulations by being out of the house without a reasonable excuse.

But the prosecution opted to withdraw the charge when his case – which included allegations of dangerous driving and outraging public decency – was sent to crown court.

He was later sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for a year. At the sentencing hearing, prosecuting barrister Lucie Stoker told said Padget had gone into the Tesco store in Calne at around 7am on April 6.

He ignored one-way markings in the store and, when challenged by staff, became abusive. He kept swearing at a female staff member, calling her rude names. Security staff were called. As he left the shop, Padget picked up a £2.50 pot of hand cream. Outside, he pulled down his trousers, bent over and pulled his buttocks apart to show the women his anus.

Read the full court report here.

3. Drunk in the street

This Is Wiltshire:

Caulfield Road, Gorse Hill Picture: GOOGLE

Ashwani Kumar, 56, had been charged with being drunk and disorderly and breaching the regulations by being in Caulfield Road, Gorse Hill, on April 12 without a reasonable excuse.

The charges were withdrawn when Kumar – who found infamy in 2019 when he tossed Poppy wreaths around the Cenotaph – pleaded guilty to a catalogue of other drunk and disorderly and criminal damage charges. He was jailed for 12 weeks.

4. Three time 'rule flouter'

A 17-year-old girl then banned from being in the Orbital shopping park was charged three times in April with breaking the coronavirus regulations – as well as assaulting police officers. She pleaded guilty to two of the breaches. The third was withdrawn by the Crown.

You can read the court report here.

5. Drunk and disorderly in Cambria Place

This Is Wiltshire:

Delicia Wheeler outside Swindon Magistrates' Court at an earlier hearing

Delicia Wheeler, 19, of The Moorings, Kingshill, was charged with breaching the regulations after being found drunk and disorderly in Cambria Place on April 12.

But the charges were withdrawn by the Crown in June after Wheeler admitted a number of other offences – including ordering unwanted pizzas and taxis to another woman’s home.

She was eventually given a community order and told to complete rehabilitation days.