Joe Rooney funeral: £10k fine for 'blatant disregard' of rules

The funeral took place at St Edward's Catholic Church in London Road

Police will issue a £10,000 fine to organisers of a funeral for a man who died in a road crash for "blatant disregard" of coronavirus restrictions.

About 100 to 150 people are estimated to have attended the funeral of Joe Rooney, in Kettering on Monday, above the 30 person limit for England.

Police said road blocks had to be made for the large funeral procession.

Chief Constable Nick Adderley said he sympathised but added that "no-one is above the law".

The Northamptonshire force said it was deployed to the town centre at about 09:00 GMT on Monday and put up blocks to "prevent the procession from travelling into certain areas".

The funeral of Mr Rooney, 47, from Corby, who died in a crash last month, took place at St Edward's Catholic Church in London Road.

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Mr Adderley said he had "heard so many heart-wrenching stories from people who have had to bury their loved-ones in really difficult and harrowing circumstances" during the pandemic.

"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."

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The fine, said Mr Adderley, "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".