Charges Dropped After Traveller Funeral

A Market Harborough man accused of breaching Covid laws over a funeral for his brother will face no further criminal action.

Patrick James Rooney, 48, was charged after around 150 mourners turned up outside a church in Kettering last November.

A funeral was held there for Joe Rooney, 47, from Corby, who died in car crash the previous month.

Northampton Magistrates Court heard today that the Crown Prosecution Service was dropping the case after ‘careful consideration,’ and the charge of participating in a gathering of two or more people in a public, was withdrawn.

The Court heard Mr Rooney, from Greenacres, Leicester Road, had funded his own defence of the case privately, and his costs will now be reimbursed through central funds.