Sadiq Khan calls for watchdog inquiry into police action at Sarah Everard vigil
Sadiq Khan has said he is “not satisfied” by Met commissioner Cressida Dick’s explanation of heavy-handed police actions at Sarah Everard’s Clapham vigil last night, calling for a full investigation by two police watchdogs.
The mayor of London, who has oversight of the Metropolitan Police, said he had “received assurances” from the police that the vigil would be “policed sensitively”, but that “in my view, this was not the case”.
“I will now be asking Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to conduct a full independent investigation of events yesterday evening and in previous days,” he said.
“I am also asking the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to investigate the actions of police officers yesterday evening.”
Calls are growing for Dick to resign, after the police forcefully broke up the vigil that was attended by thousands at Clapham Common last night.
Home Office minister Victoria Atkins has said today that Dick must “explain” the “very upsetting” actions of the Met last night at Clapham Common, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for the police commissioner’s resignation.
Four women were arrested at the vigil for Everard, while others were seen being forcibly taken away by police.
The scenes sparked fury on social media, with a picture of vigil attendee and Royal Holloway physics student Patsy Stevenson, 28, being arrested widely circulated.
She told the Sunday Times: “I was just standing there at the bandstand and they just tackled me to the ground.
“They pinned me to the ground and I was surrounded by about ten of them, there were officers everywhere. I was scared – they should have been there to protect and serve, but they weren’t. They got me in handcuffs and one of the officers said to me ‘I have got my hand on my baton already’.”
Speaking to Sky News today, Atkins said: “The scenes we’ve seen later on in the day and in the evening are very upsetting.
“I take it very seriously, the home secretary [Priti Patel] takes it very seriously, which is why she has asked the Met Commissioner [Cressida Dick] for a report on what happened last night.
“Any policing of large events is difficult at the best of times, but we’re in the middle of a pandemic with all the rules that flow with that.”
Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Luisa Porritt also called for Dick’s resignation, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Met’s actions at the vigil were “deeply disturbing”.
“Women came together to mourn Sarah Everard – they should have been able to do so peacefully,” he said.
“I share their anger and upset at how this has been handled.”
Assistant police commissioner Helen Ball defended the actions of the police at the vigil in a statement released last night.
“Hundreds of people were packed tightly together, posing a very real risk of easily transmitting Covid-19,” she said.
“Police must act for people’s safety, this is the only responsible thing to do. The pandemic is not over and gatherings of people from right across London and beyond, are still not safe.”
Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, was yesterday charged with the kidnap and murder of Everard.
The 33-year-old’s body was found in a builder’s bag in a Kent woodland on Wednesday, after she disappeared one week earlier while walking home in Clapham.