Sarah Everard vigil: Met Police pays £10K damages to attendee

The Metropolitan Police has agreed to pay £10,000 in damages to a woman arrested at the Sarah Everard vigil in south London, her solicitors have said.

Jennifer Edmunds was detained overnight and charged with breaching Covid restrictions at the gathering in Clapham on 13 March 2021.

The charges were dropped in May 2022 and Ms Edmunds sued the force for breaching her human rights and false imprisonment, her solicitors said.

The Met said staff acted in good faith.

Ms Edmunds, through Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, also sued the force for assault, misfeasance in public office and malicious prosecutions following the Clapham Common vigil.

The legal settlement was reached on 5 February after proceedings issued at Mayor's and City of London Court, they added.

Ms Edmunds said she would split the damages with pro-Palestine protesters, "who have also been victims of police".

She said: "While I am relieved for this to finally be over, three years after Sarah Everard's death, and almost three years after I was threatened with criminal charges for exercising my inalienable right to protest her murder, in that time I have also seen the state clamp down yet further on our collective freedom to assemble and demand change."

The Met was heavily criticised for how it policed the gathering held to protest and mourn the kidnap, rape and murder of Ms Everard, 33, by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.

A planned socially distanced event proposed by Reclaim These Streets was cancelled when organisers were threatened by the force with £10,000 fines.

However, people turned up throughout the day to lay flowers and tributes, including the then Duchess of Cambridge.

By the evening, hundreds of people had gathered and refused to leave when asked by police, leading to clashes.

Photographs circulated of women being handcuffed on the ground, sparking anger.

Ms Edmunds was arrested at the vigil and refused to pay a fixed penalty notice for breaching Covid regulations.

A Met spokesperson said: "The officers involved acted in good faith, interpreting complex and changing legislation in very challenging circumstances.

"A protracted legal dispute was not in the interests of any party, and an agreed settlement reached."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]