Met police breached rights of organisers of Sarah Everard vigil,

The Metropolitan Police breached the rights of the organisers of a planned vigil for Sarah Everard, a court ruled today (March 11).

Reclaim These Streets (RTS) arranged a socially distanced vigil on Clapham Common for the 33-year-old March 13 2021.

A legal challenge was brought against the force by four women who founded RTS and planned the vigil.

The vigil was also a planned peaceful protest about violence against women.

RTS withdrew from organising the vigil after being threatened with fines of £10,000 each and possible prosecution due to covid laws if the event went ahead.

A spontaneous vigil and protest went ahead.

A two day hearing took place in January where Jessica Leigh, Anna Birley, Henna Shah and Jamie Klingler argued that decisions made by the force in advance of the planned vigil amounted to a breach of their human rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and said the force did not assess the potential risk to public health.

Lord Justice Warby and Mr Justice Holgate ruled in favour of RTS today (March 11), finding that the Met's deacons in the run-up to the event were "not in accordance with the law".

The Guardian reported that, in a statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice on behalf of the four women who organised the vigil, their solicitor Theodora Middleton said: "Today's judgment is a victory for women.

"Last March, women's voices were silenced.

"Today's judgment conclusively shows that the police were wrong to silence us.

"The decisions and actions by the Met Police in the run-up to the planned vigil for Sarah Everard last year were unlawful and the judgment sets a powerful precedent for protest rights.

"We came together one year and one day ago to organise a vigil on Clapham Common because Sarah Everard went missing from our neighbourhood. We felt sad and afraid.

"We were angry that women still weren't safe and we were tired of the burden to stay safe always weighing on our shoulders."

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said the Met was "considering the judgment very carefully before deciding whether to appeal".

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan welcomed the High Court ruling and said the way the vigil was handled was one of the events in the past year that had "damaged confidence" in the Met.

He added: "We know tens of thousands of dedicated Met officers have gone above and beyond throughout this pandemic - but it is clear today that there are still serious lessons to be learned in how their duties are carried out."

Sarah Everard went missing March 3 2021 after leaving a friend's house in Battersea to walk home to Brixton.

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