PAIN & ANGER
» Fury after cops storm in to break up tribute to victim » Police chief defends her officers over Covid actions
A SEA of flowers for Sarah Everard covers the ground the day after a vigil for her descended into chaos.
The Met defended its policing, but PM Boris Johnson said film of it had left him “deeply concerned”.
PROTESTS over the death of Sarah Everard continued yesterday as Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick defiantly refused to apologise after officers manhandled women at a peaceful vigil.
Dame Cressida faced calls to resign after women were dragged to the floor in handcuffs by policemen on Clapham Common on Saturday night.
After Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered an inquiry into the way the vigil was policed, Dame Cressida said she was “more determined, not less, to lead my organisation”.
PM Boris Johnson joined the row, saying: “I was deeply concerned about the footage from Clapham Common on Saturday night. I have spoken with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who has committed to reviewing how this was handled.”
He will chair a meeting of the Crime and Justice Taskforce today to look at measures to “protect women and ensure our streets are safe”.
Police investigating Sarah’s death cordoned off an area of Sandwich, Kent, yesterday.
Mr Johnson said: “The death of Sarah Everard must unite us in determination to drive out violence against women and girls.”
On Saturday, four women were arrested as police clashed with people who broke Covid rules to gather at Clapham Common to pay their respects to Sarah and protest about violence against women.
Pictures of 5ft 2in Patsy Stevenson, 28, a physics student from Egham, Surrey, with several officers holding her down caused outrage.
Patsy said: “They pinned me to the ground and I was surrounded by about 10 of them. I was scared. They should have been there to protect and serve, but they weren’t.
“They got me in handcuffs and one officer said to me, ‘I’ve got my hand on my baton’. That really scared me.”
She was arrested, taken to a police van and fined £200 for breaching
Covid-19 restrictions. The Met Police Federation claimed 26 officers had been spat at, punched and kicked during the vigil. Federation chairman Ken Marsh, said: “Colleagues are being condemned by politicians of all parties for doing what we have been asked to do. Are we supposed to enforce Covid-19 Regulations or not?”
Hundreds of people were last night in Parliament Square, where demonstrators lay on the ground during a minute’s silence to remember Sarah.
Dame Cressida yesterday said:
“What happened to
Sarah appals me. I’m the first woman commissioner of the Met, perhaps it appals me, in a way, even more because of that. I know that in the streets all across the UK women don’t feel as safe as we would all like women to feel.” Asked if she was considering resigning, she said: “No, I’m not.”
Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Sarah, 33.
I know in the streets women don’t feel as safe as we would like DAME CRESSIDA DICK MET COMMISSIONER
Priti Patel has asked Sir Thomas Winsor, Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to conduct a “lessons learned” review into the policing of the vigil.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, spoke to Dame Cressida at City Hall on Sunday. He later said he was “not satisfied” with her explanation about the policing of the vigil. Nusrit Mehtab, a former Met superintendent, said police could have helped organisers, Reclaim These Streets, to arrange a Covid-safe vigil. She said: “It didn’t have to happen this way.”
Hundreds of people continued to stand up for women’s safety yesterday, adding tributes at the Clapham Common bandstand.
Phoebe Hunt, 20, said: “Sitting at home waiting to do the vigil on our doorstep and seeing pictures of women getting attacked here was heartbreaking.” Molly Powell, 21, said Sarah’s death made women “angry and terrified”.
A gravestone placard was placed beneath the New Scotland Yard sign at the Met’s HQ. It read “RIP democracy mutual respect Sarah”.
Reclaim These Streets wants Dame Cressida Dick to “explain the actions” of her officers, saying women had “lost trust and are hurting”.
Martin Hewitt, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said police chiefs would meet today to discuss “what more we can do to better protect women”.