Police still trying to work out who gets £10,000 Covid fine over Kettering funeral

Police say they are still trying to work out who should pay a £10,000 fine following a funeral in Northamptonshire last month.

Northamptonshire's top brass announced plans to issue the penalty — the largest in the county so far for breaching Covid-19 restrictions — the day after the funeral on November 9.

But a spokesman for the Force admitted today: “Investigations are ongoing to establish the organiser of the event. Numerous enquiries have been made and will continue over coming days.”

More than 150 mourners were at Kettering's St Edward's Roman Catholic Church for the funeral of 'Gipsy Joe' Rooney earlier this month — five times the number allowed under coronavirus restrictions.

Horses and carriages with Irish flags led mourners to along Bowling Green Road and down Northampton Road on their journey to the crematorium, followed by a cortege of seven Rolls-Royce cars.

Announcing plans to issue the fine, Chief Constable Nick Adderley, said: “Throughout this global pandemic, I have heard so many heart-wrenching stories from people who have had to bury their loved-ones in really difficult and harrowing circumstances.

“These sacrifices have been incredibly hard for people to make but they have made them in the interests of protecting each other and their communities from a deadly virus that has killed more than one million people worldwide.

“It is then exceptionally frustrating when we see a group of people with no regard for other people’s safety, completely flouting the restrictions and having the type of funeral many people would have loved to have had but have been unable to hold, simply because they think they are above the law."

Police have issued four £10,0000 'super fines' for breaching Covid-19 regulations during the last two weeks — three following house parties and one to the ograniser of a relegious event after officers crashed what they thought was a wedding reception at Northampton's Campanile Hotel last weekend.