Sarah Everard vigil: Arrests as protesters march through central London
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Arrests have been made after protesters marched through central London to campaign following the death of Sarah Everard.
Police gave demonstrators an ultimatum to go home immediately or face being arrested as dozens were stopped over breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square for the demonstration at about 5pm before marching across London.
A large number of protesters blocked off traffic on Westminster Bridge to demonstrate as Reclaim These Streets campaigners chanted and held banners and police officers halted oncoming cars.
The police watchdog has confirmed it is launching two new separate investigations relating to the Sarah Everard case, following referrals from the Metropolitan Police.
One will look into allegations that a Metropolitan Police constable, who was stationed at a cordon in Kent as part of the ongoing search operation, shared an “inappropriate graphic” with colleagues.
The other will examine how Wayne Couzens, the serving Metropolitan Police officer charged with Ms Everard’s kidnap and murder, came to sustain head injuries while in custody.
- Sarah Everard disappearance: What we know so far
- Woman pictured being held on ground by police at Sarah Everard vigil wants to meet Cressida Dick
- Thousands gather around London to mourn Sarah Everard and condemn police handling of vigil
- Sarah Everard: Everything we know about 33-year-old and what happened to her
We need to restore public confidence in police, says Sir Ed Davey
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has said that “public confidence” and “women’s confidence” in leadership must be restored following the events at Saturday’s vigil for Sarah Everard.
“I think we need to restore public confidence. I think we need to restore women’s confidence,” Sir Ed said, speaking on LBC.
Addressing calls for Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign, he said: “I don’t just think it’s about the Met commissioner”.
Rather, he suggested that others, including Home Secretary Priti Patel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan must also be held to account and questioned on what they knew of how police would respond to the vigil in advance.
“Presumably, they would have had some contact with New Scotland Yard,” he said.
Policing minister suggests officers pinned vigil attendee down for her own safety
Policing minister Kit Malthouse suggested that police pinned an attendee of Saturday’s vigil down on the ground for her own safety.
Speaking on LBC on Monday, Mr Malthouse was pressed to offer an explanation for why it took multiple officers to detain Patsy Stevenson, the attendee who was pictured being pinned to the ground by police at the vigil for Sarah Everard.
“The way they arrest people in those circumstances, to guarantee their safety and to keep them, if you like, free of injury, is to use four or five police officers,” he said.
Asked whether he supported police handcuffing Ms Stevenson the way they did, Mr Malthouse said that “in arrest circumstances there are police protocols that do require sometimes handcuffing”.
Asked whether he was suggesting that Ms Stevenson “posed a risk...to other officers or to herself,” Mr Malthouse said he did not know.
He said an investigation expected to be conducted into the matter would “look at this issue”.
Priti Patel still has confidence in Cressida Dick, policing minister says
Home Secretary Priti Patel still has confidence in Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick’s ability to lead the force, Policing Minister Kit Malthouse has said.
Speaking on LBC, Mr Malthouse was asked whether Ms Patel has retained confidence in Ms Dick.
“She does and so do I,” Mr Malthouse said.
Asked why that was, in the wake of the events of the weekend, which saw Met police officers crack down heavily on a vigil held for Sarah Everard, the policing minister said that while “obviously, the events of the weekend were extremely alarming and distressing”, he said that police have been placed in a difficult position “standing between us and a virus and protecting our health, which they’ve never done”.
“Cressida Dick is an officer of longstanding great skill and experience and knowledge to bring to this particular issue,” he said.
He added that “that is why” Ms Dick will be attending a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson this afternoon to discuss how to better prevent violence against women and girls.
‘All we wanted to do was pay respects,’ Says Patsy Stevenson
Patsy Stevenson has said that all that she and others “wanted to do was pay respects” on Saturday at the vigil in Clapham Common for Sarah Everard.
Instead, she told Sky News, she has been “thrown into...the public eye,” after photos of her being pinned down to the ground by police officers went viral online.
“No one intended this. It was meant to be a vigil. All we wanted to do was pay respects,” she said.
“I accidentally went viral. I didn’t want... This happened like a whirlwind,” she continued. “I thought about it and, I thought, you know, I’ve been thrown into, sort of the public eye and the only way I can make this not in vain is to just, from this, not make it political, not make it, you know, against the police or against anyone.”
“It literally is just about the safety of women and we need to just talk about it,” she said.
Public should be ‘really worried’ about new crackdown on protests, ex-police chief says
A former police chief has said that the public should be “really worried” about a new crackdown on protests, as he warned that the government was putting rights “fundamental to our democracy” at risk.
Peter Fahy, the ex-chief constable of Greater Manchester Police said the government’s new bill, which would give police and the home secretary new powers over public gatherings and processions, was “rush legislation” stemming from ministers’ anger over protests over the past year.
Read more on his warning here:
Public should be ‘really worried’ about new crackdown on right to protest, ex-police chief says
‘You’ve got to be really wary of more legislation being rushed through just because certain politicians didn’t like certain demonstrations’
Former Met Police assistant commissioner says pinning down vigil attendee was ‘safest’ approach
A former Met Police assistant commissioner has insisted that a dramatic arrest at Saturday’s vigil that saw police pin an attendee down on the ground was the “safest” approach.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, former Met Police Assistant Commissioner Helen King disagreed officers’ actions being depicted as “aggressive,” asserting: “You keep using the word ‘aggressive’ and I’d like to talk through that piece”.
“Once a decision is made for someone to be detained, and in every instance the police officers involved need to be able to justify that detention, that use of force as necessary, the safest way that you can detain someone...where they’re not complying and not cooperative and clearly you asked for them to be cooperative in the first instance, you then want to make sure that their detention doesn’t cause them or anyone else injury,” she said.
“And actually, the safest way of doing that is by having a number of officers there and the optimum number, the way officers are trained, if you can have six police officers, that’s the safest way and taking them safely to the floor in a controlled way prevents them and other people getting hurt. Because while you’re standing up, it’s very easy for someone to fall over, someone to trip, potentially someone to bang their head, with all those consequences,” said Ms King.
“So, officers are trained to safely take someone to the floor, to restrain their limbs, to put handcuffs on, someone watches their head, someone keeps an overview to make sure that it’s safe for everyone and then lifts them to their feet and walks them out,” she continued.
“It looks shocking, it looks aggressive, but it is the safest way and that is how the experts advise the police,” she said.
Poll finds 47% are against Cressida Dick resignation, while 23% in favour
A new opinion poll has found limited public support for calls for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to step down from her role amid outrage over her force’s response to Saturday’s vigil for Sarah Everard.
In a YouGov poll, which saw 5,168 adults surveyed on Sunday and Monday, 47 per cent of people said they did not believe the Scotland Yard head should resign, while 23 per cent were in favour of her stepping down from her role.
The survey also suggested a divide in the public’s stance on whether a socially distanced vigil that had been planned for Saturday, but was called off over the threat of fines from police should have been allowed to move forward.
Forty per cent of those surveyed said they believe the event should have been allowed to move forward, while 43 per cent said it should not have.
The data on deadly violence against women in England and Wales
The below chart, provided by Statista, provides a picture of what deadly violence against women in England and Wales looks like, with most homicides with female victims occurring inside homes and private dwellings.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, between 2019 and 2020, 78 per cent of female victims were killed in homes/dwellings, while 11 per cent are targeted on streets, footpaths and in alleyways. Around 4 per cent were killed in open outdoor settings, while 1 per cent were killed on licensed premises.
The data also shows that 35 per cent of female victims were killed by former partners, with 13 per cent having their lives taken by strangers. Eleven per cent were killed by family members, with 10 per cent fatally attacked by a friend or acquaintance.
Women’s groups lose legal battle over plummeting rape prosecutions
Campaigners have lost a court battle over a drop in rape prosecutions in the Court of Appeal.
Women’s groups had accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of seeing a decline in the number of cases charged by moving away from a “merits-based approach” and towards pursuing only “safe” cases.
The CPS denied the claim and won at High Court and now, the Court of Appeal has supported that decision.
Home Affairs Correspondent Lizzie Dearden has more:
Women’s groups lose legal battle over plummeting rape prosecutions at Court of Appeal
Campaigners have lost their court battle over plummeting rape prosecutions at the Court of Appeal.
Sarah Everard was a ‘bundle of joy’, friend says
Sarah Everard was a “bundle of joy” who was always “smiling” and “full of energy,” a friend of the 33-year-old has told The Independent.
Speaking with Women’s Correspondent Maya Oppenheim in Clapham Common on Sunday, Victoria Smith, who was a former colleague of Sarah’s, said her friend was “exactly how you see her in pictures. Smiling, positive full of energy”.
“She was absolutely amazing,” she said.
“As the days have gone by, it has become harder for me,” Ms Smith, a mother-of-one who is five months pregnant and lives in Surrey, said. “Being here today, I feel very strongly for Sarah’s family. I send all my love to them,” she added.
Read more from Maya, who spoke with people who gathered in both Clapham Common and outside Scotland Yard to mourn Sarah and demand justice:
Thousands gather around London to mourn Sarah Everard and condemn police handling of vigil
‘All women can identify with feeling uneasy, spooking yourself out when walking home after a night out,’ attendee says
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