Two men each hit with £10,000 fine for holding 150-person funeral

22 January 2021, 21:45

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Two men have each been hit with a £10,000 fine for organising and directing a funeral attended by around 150 people.

Bedfordshire Police issued one of the penalty charges on Friday to a man in his 30s who organised the event, which took place on Thursday in Arlesey, near Stevenage.

The funeral breached the government's current coronavirus regulations that allow up to 30 mourners at such ceremonies.

A separate man, 41 and from Mansfield, who directed the funeral was also hit with a £10,000 fine for "not managing this event correctly or advising their clients of the rules".

Chief Superintendent John Murphy, who is leading Bedfordshire Police's response to the Covid pandemic, said it was "disappointing" the service went ahead in this manner despite officers previously attempting to engage with the family.

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"We understand the past 10 months have been extremely difficult for everyone and that people need to mourn the loss of their loved ones with dignity and respect," he said.

"However, public health remains our number one priority. The NHS is under significant pressure and coronavirus infection rates remain extremely high.

"During these unprecedented times, people have had to make huge sacrifices, and an event of this size shows a lack of respect for those who have been unable to attend the funerals of loved ones or say goodbye in a way that they would have wished to."

Ch Supt Murphy explained that fines and enforcement are used by officers as a "last resort".

However, he added that the police will take "firm action against those who brazenly decide to go against the guidelines outlined by the government and put a large number of people at risk".

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The force was also made aware of a funeral in Dunstable on Friday, during which two men were arrested on suspicion of disorder.

Elsewhere, on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police broke up a wedding attended by 150 people at a north London school.

The windows of the venue, at Yesoday Hatorah Girls Senior School in Stamford Hill, had been covered to stop people seeing inside, officers said.

Police said the event was a “completely unacceptable breach of the law”, adding: “There is no excuse for this type of behaviour.”

Five guests were fined £200.

A statement from the school, whose principal, Rabbi Avrahom Pinter, died in April after contracting coronavirus, said the hall had been leased to an outside organisation and "we had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place".

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