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.
“A protracted legal dispute is not in the interests of any party, least of all the complainants who we recognise have already experienced significant distress as a result of this incident,”
This was their apology? Or did I miss something?
Wow. Even a child could have told them arresting people at the vigils would be hugely bad optics and lead to immense blowback. One would hope whoever gave the order to start arresting them has been sacked, but more likely have been promoted.
ACAB.
Always and forever.
Cops are blind to anything outside of their own greed and selfishness.
Hard to care when you’re a sociopath.
looks like an album cover!
Nirvana would have used it. 😏
This hits differently with what’s happening here in Northern Ireland.
Similar incident at a wraith laying ceremony. The officers were disciplined, and this has since been ruled as “appeasing Sinn Fein”. One of the many reasons our police service is in a bit of a crisis.
Why doesn’t the article detail what the lawsuit was about?
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.
