Police helicopter, dog squad called in to shut down Schofields house party where 60 face $1000 COVID fines

A helicopter, the dog squad and several police units called to break up a mass gathering.

Police intend to issue up to 60 COVID infringement penalty notices officers were called to a party at Schofields overnight. Picture: Facebook

A helicopter, the dog squad and numerous police units were called to a house party in Sydney’s northwest overnight, where revellers were hit with capsicum spray.

Police now expect to hand out 60 fines for breaching COVID-19 restrictions.

Officers responded to complaints about a noisy house party in Schofields at 11.30pm on Saturday.

After discovering more than 60 partygoers in attendance, they sought help from five neighbouring police units, as well as a helicopter, the dog squad and officers trained in riot response.

Police deployed capsicum spray after a brawl broke out between 15 people in the house, police said Sunday morning. Three men were taken to Blacktown Hospital, two of them suffering minor injuries from the fight and a third needing treatment for alcohol consumption.

Police arrested 30 people for failing to move on, and took 15 of them to the Riverstone Police Station.

Now, police intend to issue up to 60 people at the party with $1000 COVID-19 fines, and the 30 arrested will also face fines for refusing to leave when asked by police.

A week ago, police were called to house parties in the eastern suburbs Sydney of Bondi. People were moved on, but no fines were issued.

NSW public health restrictions limit the number of visitors to a house at any one time to 20. There is also a cap of 20 people on public outdoor gatherings.

On Saturday, NSW announced 15 new cases of the virus. Five of them are linked to the Crossroads Hotel cluster, bringing it to a total of 45 cases.