VICAR PULLED OVER DRIVING MOTORBIKE HEARSE (Had the coffin in his sidecar)

SkyNews ^ | 09/05/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

A motorbiking vicar has complained about being held up by police who stopped him with a coffin in his sidecar which he was taking to a funeral.

The Rev Paul Sinclair was taking the body of a dead biker to a crematorium in Yeovil, Somerset, in his motorbike hearse when police flagged him down for not wearing a crash helmet.

Mr Sinclair, 37, said he explained that the hearse was taxed as the equivalent of a car, meaning he did not have to wear a crash helmet.

But the officers held him up for a further 10 minutes and took photos of the vehicle.

The cortege made it to the crematorium "with just a minute or so to spare".

Mr Sinclair runs Britain's only motorcycle hearse from his base in Whitwick, Leicestershire. He uses a 900cc Triumph Speed Triple with a specially-adapted sidecar to carry coffins.

He said: "I don't mind that the officers pulled us over because they thought something was wrong and they were checking a safety issue. That's fair enough.

"We said we had to get to a funeral, but the officer wanted to do checks and wouldn't let us go for 10 minutes. I strongly object to that."

One of the officers also took photographs of the vehicle, which Mr Sinclair described as "grossly insensitive".

"I'm just glad the family were not following behind, because if they had seen a policeman taking photos of the coffin, it would have been very upsetting."

The funeral was for motorcycle enthusiast Ronald Howell, 74, and the procession was travelling from Mere, Wiltshire, when it was stopped on the A303 last Thursday.

"The irony is that the deceased was the only one wearing a crash helmet," said Mr Sinclair. "It was placed on top of his coffin.

"He had never once been stopped by the police during his lifetime, but they managed to get him at his funeral."

Last Updated: 13:30 UK, Friday September 05, 2003

[bedolido]

"The irony is that the deceased was the only one wearing a crash helmet," said Mr Sinclair. "It was placed on top of his coffin."

[hang 'em]

Suspension too stiff?

[TexasNative2000]

A new meaning to "Hell on Wheels".

[areafiftyone]

Sounds like something from Monty Python!

[stainlessbanner]

Def. a Python skit!

[SLB]

Just a good read. Has to be some interesting news once every so often.

[evolved_rage]

One of the officers also took photographs of the vehicle,

Well...where are they?

[Consort]

...Did it look like this?

[drgnwrks]

No, it looked like this.

[jjbrouwer]

He told the cops: "You'll be the death of me."

[Cicero]

Priceless.

[Petronski]

Ping.

[mhking]

This sounds like a Python bit...

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Grampa Dave]

I'm surprised that some evil capitalist hasn't started doing this here in America.

[Consort]

Sidecar Mobile Crematorium