In full lockdown in the UK, police have broken up a wedding with some 400 guests at a London school as the government wants to crack down on offenders.
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The wedding was taking place Thursday evening behind the blacked-out windows of the Yesodey Hatorah Orthodox Jewish school for girls in the north of the capital, Scotland Yard said in a statement on Friday.
The same day, the executive announced a tightening of sanctions against participants in parties.
“Police found around 400 people at the scene. Many left when they arrived, ”according to Scotland Yard.
The organizers are liable to a fine of 10,000 pounds, and five participants have been fined 200 pounds.
The Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Ephraim Mirvis, estimated on Twitter that “the vast majority of the Jewish community abhor this type of illegal behavior”.
The most bereaved country in Europe by the pandemic with more than 94,500 dead, the United Kingdom has reconfigured for the third time to try to stem a new wave of the virus, attributed to a variant that is much more contagious.
The population is only allowed to go out for essential reasons and schools are closed. Weddings are only allowed in exceptional circumstances, with a maximum of six people.
The mayor of London’s Hackney district, Philip Glanville, said the school had already been pinned for previous violations of the restrictions in place.
“We are absolutely horrified by the event last night and we condemn it vigorously,” responded a spokesperson for the school, whose principal had died of Covid-19 disease last April. According to him, the school was not aware of the wedding being held on its premises, rented through a third party organization whose contract it terminated.
The government announced Thursday that attendees at parties of more than 15 people will face a fine of 800 pounds ($ 1,386), up to up to 6,400 pounds ($ 11,000) for repeated violations.