The Met will appeal against decision on Sarah Everard vigil policing
The Metropolitan police will appeal against a high court ruling that they breached the rights of the organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard in the way they handled the event.
It will try to reverse a ruling on March 11 – a week after the anniversary of Sarah’s death – was hailed as a “victory for women”.
The four women who founded Reclaim These Streets won their legal challenge against the Met over its warning that they would face fines of £10,000 each and possible prosecution if the socially distanced event they were planning took place.
It was to be staged to mourn Sarah and protest over violence against women. Instead, a spontaneous vigil and protest took place.
The Met said in a statement published on Friday: “It’s important for policing and the public that we have absolute clarity of what’s expected of us in law.
“This is why we feel we must seek permission to appeal the judgment in order to resolve what’s required by law when policing protests and events in the future.”
Jessica Leigh, Anna Birley, Henna Shah and Jamie Klingler said that the force had breached their human rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and that it did not assess the potential risk to public health.
Everard, 33, from Brixton, was on her way home from seeing a friend in the Battersea Rise area when she was kidnapped and murdered by a serving Met officer, Wayne Couzens. The vigil was to be held near to where she went missing in Poynders Road, Clapham, in March last year.
The Met’s statement added: “It’s absolutely right that we are held to account for our actions and that there is proper scrutiny of the decisions we make as a police force in upholding legislation and maintaining public order.
“We also respect the strong views held by Reclaim These Streets in defence of human rights and public protest, and their pursuit of justice for these views.
“As an organisation we work with, support and police hundreds of protests and events across London every day, and take our responsibilities under the Human Rights Act in doing so very seriously.”
Klingler wrote in a tweet after the Met statement: “I’m not going to pretend I am not furious. I was stood outside of Stoke Newington police station when I heard they filed permission to appeal. They want us to give up. They want to exhaust us. F**k that. Learn the law.”