Kate joins Sarah vigil ...marred by violence
Screams and rage as Met police grab women mourners
KATE Middleton joined the crowds who paid tribute to murdered Sarah Everard yesterday and laid daffodils at a vigil to her memory.
The memorial event took place close to where the 33-year-old marketing executive went missing, amid growing anger at how women are forced to live with the fear of violent attack.
However, the vigil itself was marred by violence as police clashed with dozens of mourning women. Disturbing footage showed heavy-handed officers pinning screaming women to the ground to put handcuffs on.
Police surrounded a bandstand, where people laid flowers, and members of the crowd could be heard shouting: ‘Shame on you.’
One video posted online showed officers grabbing women standing within the bandstand before leading them away, to screaming and shouting from onlookers. Politicians on all sides condemned the behaviour, with one MP describing it as ‘heartbreaking and maddening to watch’, while Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel demanded an inquiry.
Conservative MP Steve Baker described the events as ‘unspeakable scenes’ and urged prime minister Boris Johnson to change lockdown rules.
Labour leader Keir Starmer tweeted: ‘The scenes in Clapham this evening are deeply disturbing. Women came together to mourn Sarah Everard – they should have been able to do so peacefully. I share their anger and upset at how this has been handled. This was not the way to police this protest.’
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey tweeted: ‘The Met police have acted terribly and caused great harm and hurt.
‘Millions of women are angry and in grief, Sarah Everard’s horrific murder and the millions of acts of assault women face every day are why women created this vigil.’
Plans for an official Clapham Common vigil had been cancelled after a UK High Court bid to bypass Covid restrictions failed, but hundreds of women turned out anyway.
As evening fell, police tweeted that it was ‘unsafe’ adding: ‘Hundreds of people are tightly packed together in breach of the regulations and risking public health. We are urging people to go home.
It is understood at least five people were arrested.
Earlier, an unnamed man had to be escorted away by police after he stood on the bandstand to rant about not being able to see his friends because of the lockdown rules.
Boris Johnson tweeted that he would be thinking of Ms Everard’s family and friends and try to ‘make sure the streets are safe’. Earlier, police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in court charged with kidnap and murder.
‘Heartbreaking and maddening to watch’