Hundreds trash 500-year-old church as £10,000 fines issued for illegal NYE parties
A 500-year-old church in Essex was ransacked by hundreds of people at an unlicensed music event, with the grounds churned up, a window smashed and evidence of drug use.
Organisers of the event set up a bar and DJ decks inside the church and hired Portaloos for partygoers at All Saints Church in East Horndon, a Grade II* listed building.
Essex Police said officers had been threatened and had objects thrown at them while trying to engage with those present at the New Year's Eve party.
A small window had been smashed to put in an extractor fan unit and the sound equipment had been wired into the church’s fuse box.
Because of the building’s age and heritage status, conservation volunteers supporting the church said the damage was “not going to be cheap” to fix, with estimates of at least £1,000.
Astrid Gillespie, a volunteer for the Friends of All Saints, said she was “just trying to get her head round the news”, having found out via a Facebook post on New Year’s Day.
“I went up there and the police were still there packing up the equipment that they seized,” she said.
“There were hundreds of people there, it sounded like it was a ticketed event. It was a professional set-up, they’d hired Portaloos – they’re still there.
“They had a bar area where you had to exchange tokens, so they must have been selling drinks tokens.
“There was loads of evidence of drugs and they’ve done damage to the church, obviously it’s a mess and needs to be completely cleaned out.
“The ground has been all churned up because they must have had vans dropping off all the equipment.”
It was just one of hundreds of events which police across the country broke up as partygoers ignored pleas to stay at home amid coronavirus restrictions.
There were similar scenes in east London, where beer bottles and laughing gas canisters lay strewn across the floor at the premises of an illegal New Year's Eve warehouse rave broken up by police.
Music speakers propped up on wooden crates were abandoned as the Metropolitan Police attended the unlicensed event at the Royal Docks.
While the vast majority of the country did abide by the no mixing outside your household rules, arrests were made in parts of England, with at least 217 fines were issued in London alone.
Where were police called out to break up illegal parties?
In London, the Metropolitan Police said it attended calls to 58 unlicensed music event and parties in breach of Tier 4 rules on Thursday night.
A number of house parties were also dispersed across the east of the capital.
Some 217 people were handed fixed penalty fines while five people were reported for a possible £10,000 fine for organising large gatherings of people.
Four people were arrested for breaching Covid regulations after gathering in central London, the force added.
Essex Police said it handed out more than £18,000 worth of fines following breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
Along with the illegal event at the church in Thorndon Park, officers later seized a generator at an unlicensed event at an abandoned warehouse in Brentwood and dispersed around 100 people. Two people were arrested.
Meanwhile, a woman was handed a £10,000 fine for organising a house party with around 100 attendees on Bury Road, Sewardstonebury. More than 25 fixed penalty notices were also issued, police said.
More than 100 fixed penalty notices (FPN) for Covid regulation breaches were issued by Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the force said.
Between 5pm on New Year’s Eve and 7am on January 1, police issued 105 FPNs, bringing the total issued by GMP since August to 2,320.
The majority of fines were issued at house parties but there were several larger incidents including a rave on an industrial estate in Wigan and a large fight at party of around 30 people in Manchester city centre.
GMP Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes said: “I’m sure the right-thinking majority of our residents will join me in condemning this irresponsible behaviour, which puts lives at risk.”
Sussex Police issued 12 fines in Brighton for breach of lockdown rules, and by 11pm had made 13 arrests across the west of the county for a number of offences including affray.
These were among 81 fixed penalty notices issued by Sussex Police between 6pm on Thursday and 3am on Friday.
The fines ranged from outdoor gatherings of groups in public spaces, to private parties and people travelling from outside the area into the county.
Several were issued to groups gathering on Brighton beach in breach of the restrictions, although there was no large-scale event on the seafront, police said.
Five tickets were issued to a group stopped in a car from London who claimed they were in Brighton to collect a takeaway.
Detective Chief Constable Terry Woods, of Lancashire Constabulary, said officers had dealt with “a steady stream of incidents” including shutting down a house party in Hyndburn.
He tweeted: “Some shockers tonight e.g. Hyndburn rural property with about 80 young people there @LancsPolice stopped it & organiser reported for £10k fine.”
At around 2.30am, he posted: “Demand now increasing – themes assaults, house party fights, sadly domestic abuse & people reaching crisis.
“I spent strike of midnight on foot with cops searching for a high risk missing person. Just resuming from assisting with the arrest of a violent drink driver – welcome to 2021!!”
West Midlands Police were also battling lockdown fatigue as 2020 drew to a close.
Chief Constable Dave Thompson posted: “Very grateful for time with @OSU_WMP.
“I am afraid some shocking Covid breaches with very large house parties. Well dealt with by the team. Always a pleasure to spend time with such professional officers.”
Merseyside Police got ahead of the game by putting a dispersal zone on the Pier Head and other parts of Liverpool city centre between 7.30pm on New Year’s Eve and midday on January 1.
The order came just hours after a post was circulated on social media encouraging people to meet near the Liver Building for a party with the words “F*** Tier 3”, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Other forces got off more lightly, with Wiltshire Police reporting “a quiet and peaceful New Year” – issuing around 20 formal warnings for house parties to disperse.