Dozens of people have been wrongly charged by police under new coronavirus laws, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has admitted.
All 44 charges brought under the Coronavirus Act, which allows officers to remove or detain a "suspected infectious person" for screening and assessment, were incorrect.
This is from since the Act was brought in on March 27. And 12 charges under the Health Protection Regulations 2020, which give powers to break up gatherings and fine people breaching restriction of movement rules, were also wrong.
The figures come following a CPS review of all 231 police charges under coronavirus legislation in England and Wales up to the end of April, where the prosecution has either been stopped or ended in a conviction.