Grieving family of a father and baby killed in
a car crash were horrified when hardcore porn was accidentally played at the
funeral.
Simon
Lewis, 33, and Simon Lewis Jr died after a head-on collision on New Year’s Eve
on Lamby Way in Cardiff, Wales.
Lewis’
wife Amanda, who was also in the car, was pregnant with Simon Lewis Jr. She
gave birth by emergency caesarean section three days after the crash, but the
boy did not survive.
The
couple, who was married for about seven years, also had a daughter.
Hundreds
of mourners were left shocked after the video was played during the service at
Cardiff’s Thornhill Crematorium on Wednesday.
“It
was absolutely disgusting, the priest turned around to play the video of Simon,
but instead a hard-core pornography video was played on the big screen,” one
mourner told Wales Online.
“Everyone
was in shock, Simon’s father-in-law was furious, he shouted at the staff
present and told them to turn it off.
“It
took them nearly four minutes to turn it off, people couldn’t believe what they
were seeing.
“To
the priest’s credit he handled it extremely well. He apologised on behalf of
Cardiff Council and said that in 30 years of doing the job, he had never seen
such filth.”
“I look at my congregations instead of the TV screen, but when I
heard this noise and members of the congregation moving towards the screen, I
realised something was wrong,” said Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, who led the
service.
“This
was not what anybody could have ever imagined or wanted. Thankfully an engineer
came to fix it and turn it off. It seems to be some kind of electronic
accident.”
Cardiff
Council, which runs the crematorium, has apologised for the incident and said
it will be launching an investigation.
“There
were four television screens used to display visual tributes as part of this
funeral service,” a spokeswoman said.
“The
television screen which showed the inappropriate content was recently
installed, replacing a screen which was broken.
The
spokeswoman said the screen will remain disconnected until audio visual
engineers carry out a thorough investigation.
“We
would like to take this opportunity to send our sincere apologies to the family
and to the mourners at the funeral,” she added.
Funeral
directors James Summers & Son have also apologised for the incident.
Meanwhile,
a man is due to face court charged with causing the deaths by dangerous driving
of Lewis and his son.
Kyle
Kennedy, 29, of Cardiff, will appear at the city’s crown court next month.
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