Police seek to issue £10k fine after restrictions breach at funeral

Northamptonshire Police is seeking to issue its first £10,000 fine after a funeral that took place in Kettering last week breached Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Officers were deployed to the town centre at around 9am on 9 November following reports that a large funeral procession was advancing through Kettering. 

Northamptonshire Police said it “acted quickly to ensure that there was minimal disruption to the local community”, with road blocks put up to prevent the procession from travelling into certain areas.

It is now seeking to issue the organisers of the funeral with a £10,000 fine “for their blatant disregard of the restrictions”.

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. There have been limited numbers allowed, people who have been unable to attend and say goodbye, social distancing enforced throughout the service, and the opportunity to have a proper wake to celebrate that person’s life not allowed.

“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.” 

He added: “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.

“While I of course sympathise with anyone who has lost a loved one, it cannot be one rule for some people and another rule for others, and no one is above the law. This may seem like a harsh course of action to some but I do not apologise whatsoever when I have seen so many painful sacrifices made throughout this pandemic by law-abiding citizens I have a duty towards.”