A man has been arrested after a gun was fired as hundreds of mourners gathered for the Manchester funeral of a criminal known as “Mr Ibiza”, despite social distancing rules.

Armed police scrambled to Gorton Cemetery in Manchester on Thursday after chaos broke out during the funeral of Clive Pinnock, 38, from Longsight, south Manchester, who died in a road crash earlier this month.

After the gun was fired, a 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after police found him suffering from minor knife wounds.

Greater Manchester police (GMP) said that the force had decided to allow the crowd of mourners to gather after a “careful assessment” of the situation, and having come to the conclusion that it would be “in the interests of public safety”.

Supt Rebecca Boyce of GMP said in a statement that the force had engaged with the Pinnock family to discuss funeral arrangements and government social distancing rules.

“Our overriding priority was to ensure that the wider public were kept safe,” she said.

“We continued to closely monitor the situation and as it progressed it was clear that the emotions of those at the gathering were high and therefore a decision was made, in the interests of public safety, not to intervene unless the wider public were put at risk by the groups.”

In 2015, Pinnock was jailed for 11 years and six months after stabbing two men following a row in a pub in the city.

The force’s decision was criticised by members of the public on social media. Many families have been forced to hold remote funeral services for loved ones who died since the coronavirus lockdown began.

Earlier this month, the funeral of a 13-year-old boy from Brixton who died after testing positive for coronavirus took place without his family members.

“We understand that there has been public concern regarding the events of yesterday,” Boyce said.

“We want to sincerely thank the majority of the public, many of whom are struggling with the loss of loved ones, who have not risked the safety of others by attending gatherings such as funerals in breach of government guidelines,” she added.

Last week, a teenager died after he was hit by a motorcycle at a funeral in Kent attended by 150 people in defiance of coronavirus physical distancing rules.

Aaron Smith, 17, who had three children, suffered fatal head injuries in the incident near Sittingbourne on Thursday.