The outrage that followed the murder of Sarah Everard was completely justified. The Metropolitan police after all, were well aware of the proclivities of the officer who murdered her and had plenty of warning signals that they had a murdering pervert in their midst. Mind you, with 1600 cases of alleged sexual offences and domestic abuse involving their officers, it is perhaps not surprising that Wayne Couzens—who murdered Everard—got overlooked.
Following the murder, and revelations about the chaotic state of the Met, a vigil was held on Clapham Common by women wishing to protest about the murder and express sympathy for Sarah Everard and her family. Despite Royal assent (Kate turned up at Clapham Common), as the vigil was being held under the ridiculous Covid regulations, which forbade large gatherings (was that with or without a Scotch egg?), the Met turned up and tried to disperse the women.
Sadly, as Bob Dylan says in Shelter from the Storm, they ‘used a little too much force’. They forcibly arrested some women and the picture of one having her face shoved into the grass at Clapham Common went viral. The optics for the Met were terrible and it was clear that even the mainstream media (hitherto ‘on message’ with the Covid narrative) found the incident intolerable.
Now, more than two years on, following a court case, the Met have issued an apology (albeit muted) and damages have been paid to two of the women. One key paragraph of the Met ‘apology’ from Commander Karen Findlay reads as follows (note how the Covid narrative is maintained):
“Acknowledging that the fundamental right to protest remained, the circumstances at the time of the vigil – namely that we were in the midst of the Covid‐19 pandemic ‐ presented an extremely difficult challenge for policing and the officers present due to the need to balance the potential risk such a gathering could pose to public health…”
It ends with: “I regret that your opportunity to express your grief and anger was curtailed by your arrest and removal.”
As we knew at the time, now confirmed, there was absolutely no risk to public health from this gathering. Likewise there was no risk to public health from the lockdown protests at Trafalgar Square in September 2021 when Met police, or the thugs who they employ in their Territorial Support Group, slammed an elderly lady to the ground. They also, in the process of policing lockdown protests, made nearly 200 arrests and handed out £10k fines such as the one given to Piers Corbyn.
Not all of the arrests led to convictions, most were declared unlawful and fines have been successfully challenged in court. But it is not good enough. If an apology and damages can be given to two articulate young women who were brutalised on Clapham Common, surely the same can be done for the anonymous lady pushed over in Trafalgar square. As far as I know, no legal case has been taken up by the woman or on her behalf, but if the Met had any decency, they would not wait to be taken to court. They would find the woman, send round officers to apologise and offer her damages. I think, given the reputation of the male officers in the Met, those had better be female officers.
Roger Watson is a retired academic nurse who lives in the UK.
He is currently engaged in a range of professional consultancies in the UK, Europe and China. He writes regularly for several outlets including The Daily Sceptic, The European Conservative, Country Squire Magazine and The New Conservative.
