UK Police Break up Wedding Party Held at London Jewish School

Police officers wear face masks as seen in a file photo taken in Manchester, England, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

British police broke up a wedding party held at a Jewish school in London on Thursday evening, which was attended by around 150 people in breach of CCP virus restrictions.

The Metropolitan Police said it received a call at 21.14 GMT on Thursday, reporting a large gathering at a school in Egerton Road, Stamford Hill, north London.

The Met initially said officers found around 400 people inside the venue, but later revised the figure down to 150.

Many of the people there left as police arrived, the Met said in a press release.

The group had gathered for a wedding party, the police found, adding that the building’s windows had been covered to stop people seeing inside.

The police are considering issuing a £10,000 ($13,641) fine to the organiser of the event, in accordance with government rules on COVID-19 breaches.

Five attendees of the wedding party were issued with £200 ($273) fixed penalty notices.

Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnett of the Met Police said it was a “completely unacceptable breach of the law.”

“People across the country are making sacrifices by cancelling or postponing weddings and other celebrations and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour,” he said.

He said police officers “will not hesitate to take enforcement action if that is required to keep people safe.”

The strictly Orthodox Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School, whose venue was used for the wedding party, said it was “absolutely horrified” by what happened and “condemned it in the strongest possible terms.”

In a statement to Jewish News, the school said it “had no knowledge that the wedding was taking place” as it had leased the school hall to an external organisation which managed all lettings.

The UK’s chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said it was “a most shameful desecration of all that we hold dear,” and that “such illegal behaviour is abhorred by the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community.”

On Jan. 6, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the whole of England under the third national lockdown since the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic began last spring. The purpose of the latest lockdown is to stem the spread of the new variant, which he said has a faster rate of transmission than the old variant.

Under the new restrictions, people may only leave home for limited reasons, such as to shop for essentials, to work if they can’t work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance, or to escape domestic abuse.

On Thursday, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced a new £800 ($1,096) fine will be introduced next week for people who attend house parties in breach of lockdown rules.

Simon Veazey contributed to this report.