London rioters threaten wedding

A Stornoway man nearly had his London wedding ruined by rioters who are engulfing the city in a wave of civil unrest and violent mayhem.

Well known poet and author Kevin Macneil, originally from Lewis, lives in Hackney which has been badly affected by looting mobs.

He and his fiancée Charlotte Haigh are due to marry this month and yesterday was the deadline to lodge their official banns. The legal process must be done in person and the document publicly displayed for over 15 days.

But the public disturbances forced Hackney Council to shut up shop and send staff home. The couple were cancelling the wedding as there seemed no alternative.

On his social media web pages Kevin: “Those criminals have no right to steal trainers, TVs & phones - and no right to steal our wedding.”

A conscientious Hackney official spotted his online messages and opened up the register office an hour early today to complete the official documents. The legal notice was posted in the nick of time before 9 am, satisfying the legal process.

A grateful Kevin explained he and his freelance magazine journalist fiancée were overwhelmed by the generous help given by registrar Christie Junor-Sheppard and Hackney Council.

Kevin said they are “the real heart of London - decent and compassionate” unlike the mobs of “criminals and thugs” wrecking Hackney.

Their big day was saved by a late night message from Christie Junor-Sheppard - who was an “absolute angel with such a great attitude.”

She tracked down Kevin’s e-mail address, they made arrangements over the phone and she opened up an hour early - at 8am this morning - to get their wedding back on track

Ms Junor-Sheppard said staff spotted Kevin’s Twitter messages.

She said: “I tracked down his email address on the internet and sent him a message saying I was sure we could find a way of making sure their wedding could still go ahead.

He got back in touch and I offered for them to come in at 8am today (Wed) before appointments began at 9am to ensure we definitely got the paperwork completed. “

She added: "If we hadn't sorted this out the couple wouldn't have been able to get married.

“They'd got guests flying in from far away, all the bookings had been made and everything had been paid for, but they honestly thought they'd have to cancel the guests and postpone the wedding. I could hear the relief in their voices when I said we'd be able to sort it out.”

Ms Junor-Sheppard added: "People plan their weddings for such a long time in advance and often have an idea of what their special day will be like before they've even met the person they will marry.

“A couple's wedding day is huge. I'm so glad to have been able to make sure this couple will still get the special day they had planned."

London rioters nearly ruin everything for local man 10/8/11

Kevin Macneil and Charlotte Haigh are delighted rioters never got to ruin their big day.