Sarah Everard vigil organisers launch legal challenge against Met Police

Organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard have launched a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police saying that women were robbed of their chance to mourn her.

Campaign group Reclaim These Streets (RTS), which was set up following the public outcry after Ms Everard’s disappearance, planned a socially-distanced vigil on Clapham Common on March 13, 2021, near to where the 33-year-old went missing.

The vigil was also intended to be a protest against violence against women and girls.

But the four organisers withdrew from the event before it went ahead.

The group said the police had told them it would be an illegal gathering under lockdown restrictions and that they faced fines of £10,000 each.

Thousands attended a spontaneous vigil, where the Met were widely criticised for their policing of the event.

At a two-day hearing starting today, RTS’s lawyers will argue that the Met’s handling of the event breached their human rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

They are seeking damages for the alleged breach, which they plan to donate to charity if they win.

One of the organisers, Anna Birley, said in a statement: “We are really pleased to be taking this important case forward.

“When we organised the vigil, we never imagined we would end up in the High Court – we believed then, as we believe now, that we have a very clearly defined right to protest, and that if there was ever a reasonable excuse for exercising this right, it was last March when a young woman was abducted, raped and killed by a then serving police officer

“At its heart this case is about the police accepting their responsibility under human rights law to facilitate peaceful protest – rather than their consistent attempts to silence and threaten women.

“Women were robbed of their chance to come together in solidarity to mourn Sarah and to stand up to the epidemic of violence against women and girls.

“We hope that the ruling will help set an important precedent that protects our right to come together in protest and solidarity in the future.”

The Met have defended their decision, saying: “We do not believe our approach was founded on an inaccurate interpretation of the Regulations or that this constituted an unlawful interference with the claimants’ rights.

“Throughout the pandemic, officers worked to balance the need to safeguard the public at large from Covid, with the rights of individuals protected by the Human Rights Act 1998.

“Policing of public order events is highly complex and is one of the most scrutinised areas of law enforcement. We believe we are world leaders in this area.”

Ms Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by then-serving police officer Wayne Couzens last year. He was sentenced to whole life in prison in September, 2021.