The pair travelled from Glasgow to ascend Beinn a' Chroin. Photo: Mick Knapton CC-BY-SA-3.0
Two walkers were charged by police after being rescued from a mountain in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs national park.
Police Scotland said the 23-year-old woman and the man, 27, put themselves and rescuers at risk during the coronavirus lockdown.
Officers said the pair were not properly equipped for the ascent of the 942m (3,091ft) munro Beinn a’ Chroin on Saturday.
Police said they had travelled more than 60 miles from their Glasgow home to climb the mountain, south of Crianlarich. Current Scottish Government regulations limit journeys for exercise to a person’s local area, with guidance of five miles.
A spokesperson said: “Police received a report of a man and woman in difficulty on the munro around 2.40pm on Saturday.
“Officers and members of Killin Mountain Rescue Team were subsequently deployed to rescue the individuals who had not been suitably equipped for the climb. They were traced safe and well.”
Police Scotland subsequently charged the man and woman in connection with culpable and reckless conduct and they were reported to the procurator fiscal.
Chief Inspector Gill Marshall, area commander for Stirling, said: “The actions of this man and woman and their lack of equipment not only placed themselves at risk of injury, but also the officers and mountain rescue volunteers who were called to assist them.
“The regulations remain that people should only leave the house for very limited purposes, for example for basic necessities, for exercise or recreation, for medical needs or travelling for work which cannot be done from home.
“We recognise that people have made significant sacrifices until now and while the temptation may be to head straight for one of our beauty spots, we would ask people to use their judgement and avoid going to places which are normally busy during the good weather or, in this case, could put individuals’ lives at risk.
“We want people to enjoy our outdoor spaces safely and exercise should be done locally, not exceeding five miles from your home.
“The chief constable has made it clear that we are asking people to take personal responsibility to do the right thing and remember the purpose of these measures is to aid the collective effort to protect the NHS and save lives.”
Adjudicator
02 June 2020Utter morons.
GavC
02 June 2020As of last Friday travelling for exercise is now permitted in Scotland with a “recommended” maximum distance of five miles. A recommendation cannot, to my mind, be inferred to be a rule of law! If these guys used (I’d guess) the closest starting point for this hill which would be Inverarnan then they “might” not even have travelled twenty miles to get there from Glasgow! I suspect a bit of fake news is being mixed into this press release! And I suspect someone may have clyped on them? And hey, if they were in bother, who on earth “would” they call? I’ll be very disappointed if these folk are not simply admonished! Some worrying precedents could be set by a different judgement!
Marion Boyle
03 June 2020Maybe they should have gone to Luss, or the Ayrshire coast - you can get away with anything if you're in a big enough mob
Steuart
03 June 2020They were rightly charged for breaking the law. It's a real story and warning to others.
GavC
03 June 2020Well Steuart you must be either a lawyer, policeman or in the MR team then? Unless the grough actual headline is flawed it’s difficult to understand how the couple could have driven 60 miles from Glasgow “before” climbing Beinn a’ Chroin unless they went round by say by Perth!!! Or there may be a lack of clarity in the Scottish Government’s recommendation - Nicola may meant a “round” trip of 5 miles? Who knows, but I guess you must be an expert Steuart!
GavC
03 June 2020Well Steuart you must be either a lawyer, a policeman or in the MR team then? Unless the actual grough headline is flawed it’s difficult to understand how the couple could have driven 60 miles from Glasgow “before” climbing Beinn a’ Chroin unless they went round by say by Perth!!! Or there may be a lack of clarity in the Scottish Government’s recommendation - Nicola may have meant a “round” trip of 5 miles? Who knows, but I guess you must be an expert Steuart!
AllCan
03 June 2020I believe they were charged with Culpable and Reckless Conduct, likely for putting the MRT at risk, and not for breach of one of the Covid 19 restrictions. Odd that the police didn't use a covid related charge unless they thought it didn't fit the "crime" but felt they needed to charge them with something to show face.
Looks like plenty of others on the hills and these appear to be only people fined/charged. Make your own assumptions on this.
GavC
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GavC
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MunroMaiden
03 June 2020Being a moron is not a criminal offence.... The group that were rescued on the Cobbler less than a week earlier (but before phase 1 of lockdown exit started) were given a fine. What was so different this time that merited a criminal charge? It isn't clear from this report, nor from the Police Scotland report. It says they were found "safe and well" - so was it they who called Mountain Rescue, or did someone else do so, possibly maliciously? There is maybe more to this story than has been revealed.
mmmmmmmmm
03 June 2020Frightening stuff. so the moral of the story is hang around in large groups on the beach or public parks where there is no chance whatsoever of getting injured and requiring the service of our overstretched NHS and the cops will leave you alone because they're outnumbered.
Dangerous president being set here......
All them upper class landowners must be loving this.
D Cummings
03 June 2020The couple were chancing their luck, but they broke no laws. They should refuse the fine and let the courts take a view. I doubt if the PF would even entertain it. More to the point, the police involved should be censured.
John J
03 June 2020Glad these numpties were charged, shame it doesn't happen more often.
Steuart
04 June 2020No Gav, all I said is they were charged- fact. The outcome of that if it ever gets to court is a matter for the courts, not you or I. Given the publicity hopefully it will act as a deterrent. Not sure you need much more than CSE English to understand that.
Storm
04 June 2020No luck you were in Scotland, next time go to Durham.
GavC
04 June 2020Well let’s hope the eventual outcome in the Courts is well publicised Steuart because there’s some very much out of the ordinary with this story and I suspect the distance issue is just “Cobblers” if you’ll pardon the pun!
Pete
05 June 2020Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
Dean
05 June 2020Beat the pheasant to scare the chicken?