Stratford bus passenger fined £1,710 for refusing to wear mask

A man has been fined more than £1,700 after refusing to wear a face mask on a London bus for two days in a row.

Frederick Adomako-Frimpong, 49, from Stratford, was among dozens of people fined at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Friday for failing to wear a face covering on public transport in July.

The court heard he had provided “no reasonable excuse” for not having a suitable covering at Stratford bus station on July 15.

Adomako-Frimpong was stopped again by Transport for London (TfL) staff the following day for the same reason.

He was given a combined fine of £1,710 for the offences after not paying his fixed penalty notice of £100 within 28 days.

Sarian Kamara, 30, from Westminster, was ordered to pay £194 despite claiming she had dropped her face covering while running to catch a bus on July 15.

After boarding without a mask, the pregnant mother-of-three was handed a covering by a fellow bus passenger but was told by a member of staff that she would be fined anyway.

Kamara claimed she was “exempt” from the mask rules due to her pregnancy.

Another defendant, Akam Rostami, 20, from Liverpool, was fined after telling the court via an interpreter that he could not speak English and therefore did not know what the rules on masks were.

The court heard that another offender had sworn at police officers when asked why they had no face covering, while another person said they refused because wearing a mask would “make no difference”.

A number of defendants at the court said they had either forgotten about the rules or had left their face covering at home.

Tim Caig, representing TfL, said: “No one enjoys wearing mask but most people see the logic of it.”