Covid-19: Essex church rave organiser fined £10,000

The organiser of an illegal New Year's Eve party in a 500-year-old church has been fined £10,000.

Hundreds of revellers attended the party at All Saints' Church in East Horndon, near Brentwood, Essex, after the building was broken into.

A 32-year-old man from Wickford was arrested on suspicion of burglary at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday.

He admitted organising the rave and was given the maximum fine for breaching Covid-19 regulations, said police.

Essex Police added he would face no further action in connection with the burglary.

The Friends of All Saints' group said event organisers had smashed a window to put in an extractor fan unit and wired sound equipment into the church's fuse box.

DJ decks and a bar were set up, and a portable toilets hired for the event.

The church initially set out to raise £2,000 for the repairs to the Grade II* listed building but has now had £22,254 in donations.

Volunteer Astrid Gillespie said: "We are completely blown away by the public's generosity."

She said damage from the rave had begun to be fixed and further repairs to the building "that would have had to wait years otherwise" would also be carried out.

Friends of All Saints' said 80% of donations had been passed on to the Churches Conservation Trust for the repairs, and 20% would be kept for future maintenance of church grounds.

Essex Police said its investigation into the event continued and four other people previously arrested had been released under investigation.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]