London's police force has apologised and paid "substantial damages" to two women detained at a vigil held in memory of Sarah Everard who was raped and murdered by a serving officer, their lawyers said on Thursday.

Marketing executive Everard was abducted off a street in London as she walked home in March 2021 and her body was found in a woodland about 50 miles (80 km) away some days later.

News of her killing and the disclosure a serving officer, Wayne Couzens, had been arrested led to anger and protests, and hundreds of people, mainly women, attended a vigil at Clapham Common in southwest London three days after Everard’s body was found, and close to where she was last seen.

The women, Dania Al-Obeid and Patsy Stevenson, were among those who were held by officers and then taken away in handcuffs after police said the gathering was in breach of COVID-19 lockdown rules and the crowd had refused orders to disperse.

Photographs of Stevenson being restrained and pinned down by officers were beamed around the world and became the enduring image of the incident, leading to widespread criticism of heavy-handed policing.

  • 520@kbin.social
    4·
    1 year ago

    It does.

    The women, Dania Al-Obeid and Patsy Stevenson, were among those who were held by officers and then taken away in handcuffs after police said the gathering was in breach of COVID-19 lockdown rules and the crowd had refused orders to disperse.

    Basically:

    • woman gets murdered by a police officer. Not shot as a suspect or as an innocent bystander, straight up kidnapped, raped and murdered.
    • people hold a vigil for her. Attendees are mostly women in fear for their safety and angry at the police for their record of misogyny.
    • police respond by breaking up the vigil, citing COVID-19 restrictions, which were very strict at the time.