A comprehensive blog of prosecutions and convictions under the Covid-19 lockdown reveals how many went unreported and were even based on the wrong laws.

Evening Standard courts correspondent Tristan Kirk has compiled a list of arrests, courts appearances and sentencing from the start of the crisis in the UK.

His investigation here reveals how some prosecutions of healthy defendants were brought under a law designed only to be applied to people suspected of having the Covid-19 virus.

A significant number of lockdown breach charged were dropped at court, Kirk details.

And he points out that in many cases the media were unaware of charges, that hearings were taking place and sentencing. Where police officers were the subject of Covid-19 related assaults, however. These were detailed in press releases.

“A catalogue of other crimes went into the system quietly, unannounced by any public body, not declared on court lists issued (to) the media, and receiving no attention at all. Rape, burglary gun and knife possession, child grooming, causing grievous bodily harm, arson and attempted murder,” writes Kirk.

“Hundreds of allegations of assaults on emergency workers were considered by the courts, but they received little or no coverage and just a fraction of those allegations were included on the court lists sent out to the media.”

Kirk welcomed the announcement that the Criminal Prosecution Service was to carry out a thorough review of ‘lockdown breach’ cases following concerns that prosecutions had been mishandled and people may have been wrongly criminalised.