Watch as Xen Watts, a former Leeds University student, speaks to Bev Turner about how one snowball fight during Covid lockdown ruined his life.
In January 2021, the 23-year-old Leeds University student decided to break out of his boredom after “months of being detained” by arranging the event on Facebook.
“It was purely for a joke”, he told Bev Turner for GBN Originals. “I just thought it would be funny if the two universities in Leeds had a Lord of The Rings-style fight in the local park”.
Watts woke up the next day to see more than 100 people had assembled in Hyde Park, Leeds, which was engulfed in snow.
Xen Watts hit out at how the police interrogated him
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“I didn’t expect it”, he said. “I got several [knocks on the door]. The first one, I wasn’t home. My housemate told me police had come to the door.
“The second time, I ignored the police and the third time, my housemate let them in. They barged straight into my room uninvited and said, ‘are you Mr Watts?’.
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Three officers showed up at Watts’s door
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“They asked me to come down to the station. I asked if I have to, they said ‘you don’t have to, but if you don’t, we’re going to make you’.”
He said the experience was a scary one with three officers turning up at his door.
“I knew I was in a bit of trouble because the story about the snowball fight had been picked up by a few media platforms”, he said.
Watts then detailed the overwhelming experience of arriving at his local police station to be ushered into a room with a lawyer, who told him not to say anything “too incriminating”.
Xen Watts joined Bev Turner on GBN Originals
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“We had this really nasty, uncomfortable meeting with two officers who tried to antagonise me and blame me for the deaths of thousands of people around the country”, he said.
“They wrote down the number 3,000 and slid it across the table. They said this is the number of people who have died from Covid since your snowball fight. How does that make you feel?”
Watts said the experience was upsetting, saying the officer was effectively accusing him of manslaughter which he argued “wasn’t fair”.
He was issued with the maximum possible fine of £10,000 and the possibility of being slapped with a criminal record if he did not pay.
The fixed penalty notice (FPN) landed the student in a boat load of debt, but also a great deal of emotional turmoil as he was then known as a Covid rule-breaker.
He told GB News that the stigma led to a breakdown in relationships and subsequently his mental health.
Bev Turner interjected to deliver a “motherly moment”, telling Watts he did “nothing wrong”.
“Nobody knows more about this topic than I do – trust me, I am right”, she said.
Between March 2020 and July 2021, three national lockdowns were enforced when attending gatherings, leaving home or failing to wear a face mask could all spark a fine or prosecution.