Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

H. Samuel Covid breach: Investigation into Inverness jewellery store completed

Councillor Janet Campbell.
Picture by Jason Hedges
Councillor Janet Campbell. Picture by Jason Hedges

An investigation at H. Samuel jewellers in Inverness into a breach of Covid-19 restrictions has been concluded.

However Signet Trading Limited, which owns H. Samuel, has refused to confirm the outcome and whether anyone has been disciplined.

Police were called to H. Samuel in Eastgate Shopping Centre where members of staff had congregated to drop off baby presents for one of the employees who was due to go on maternity leave.

The unauthorised gathering – which was a breach of the guidelines – took place during Covid lockdown on January 23 when the H. Samuel branch was closed.

After the Boxing Day lockdown the store had remained open for click and collect purposes.

However, following updated guidelines from the Scottish Government, the shop closed completely on January 5 – like all other non-essential shops in the city.

It is understood the gathering was brought to the attention of police by a concerned security guard within the shopping centre.

A spokeswoman for Signet confirmed that an internal investigation into the H. Samuel Covid breach had been completed.

She said: “Having concluded it, we’ve no further comment to make beyond that previously provided.”

Eastgate Shopping Centre refused to comment on the incident.

At the time when details of the H. Samuel Covid breach emerged, Janet Campbell, a councillor for the Inverness Central ward, said she was “absolutely horrified” at the “irresponsible behaviour.”

At that time a spokeswoman for Signet confirmed there was an investigation into “an unauthorised gathering”.

They added: “Such an event contravenes our internal protocols, which fully reflect current government guidance on measures to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.”

The spokeswoman and police confirmed that officers were involved after the incident was reported to them, they attended and offered advice on the day.

However, no further action was taken by the force.