Police chief in statue row quits after Kill the Bill riot
THE head of the police force criticised over its handling of Black Lives Matter and Kill the Bill protests is leaving.
Avon and Somerset chief constable Andy Marsh (pictured) said the job had been the ‘honour of a lifetime’ and it would be a ‘wrench’ to step down.
His force had to retract claims officers suffered injuries including a punctured lung and broken bones during protests over the new policing bill in March. About 500 people attacked a police station and torched vehicles in a riot that broke out during three nights of clashes.
But Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire told of concerns that officers were too forceful. The police were also criticised last year for failing to prevent protesters dumping a statue of 17th century merchant and slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol harbour. Mr Marsh later insisted trying to make arrests would have caused ‘a very violent confrontation’.
He said yesterday: ‘To leave a force I first joined in 1987 has been a difficult decision to make. But I feel it’s the right time for me to embark on a new challenge and for another person to take the helm and continue the journey to make Avon and Somerset police the outstanding force it deserves to be.’
Crime commissioner Sue Mountstevens called him ‘an outstanding chief’ who ‘led his team with courage through challenging times for policing, including austerity and the pandemic’.
Mr Marsh said he will not seek to extend his contract when it ends after five years at the start of July.