'Why has a priest been fined for a wedding in the county yet other large gatherings get away with it?' - Warwickshire Police face questions over lockdown rules

A former chief superintendent has described how Warwickshire Police are hamstrung when trying to deal with large groups of people gathering during lockdown.

Neil Hewison, who is now chief executive of the Office of Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, summed up the force’s dilemma after being asked about two incidents in the north of the county over the past few months.

At yesterday's (Friday's) meeting of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel, Cllr Keith Kondakor (Green, Weddington) explained tensions had risen following the incidents.

He said: “We have had some large events where members of the travellers community have gone to a funeral and a wedding and with people working so hard to obey the rules, there has been a lot of tension because there doesn’t seem to have been any repercussions for the people breaking the rules but sadly does seem to have had repercussions for one of the priests involved.

“I’m a massive fan of actually supporting these communities and being fair with them but we cannot support and be friends with these communities if they don’t keep to the same standards as everyone else.”

A priest was charged and fined after conducting a wedding at Our Lady of the Angels Church, in Nuneaton, at the start of November when more guests than expected turned up.

Mr Hewison told members of the panel, which consists of county and district councillors as well as members of the public, that there was a misconception about how much the police can do in such circumstances.

He said: “The reality is that each of those events have been properly organised and they have been limited to the numbers. The organisers and the traveller community have tried to stick to the regulations. It is the additional people who turn up outside the venues who create the problem.

“The panel needs to be aware that the police only have the power to enforce the regulations and they relate to the number of people in the church, at the graveside and at the event. The police have no powers to enforce social distancing, it is guidance.

“As such, if we get 200 turn up outside, the police haven’t got the powers to do anything about that. Yes they can look at parking and yes they can give advice but they can’t actually start issuing fixed penalty tickets.

“There was some action taken against the parish priest - I don’t know why there wasn’t action taken against the other organisers.

“To be clear, the police have a limited role to play. Some of the people turning up to these events, as we have experienced over the years, are aggressive, uncooperative and don’t take advice around social distancing.

“It is a difficult policing issue and not as clear cut as the public thinks. If they see a big gathering then it is not the police’s responsibility to do anything other than advise in relation to social distancing.”