Scotland Yard under fire over vigil policing

London: Scotland Yard on Sunday defended its actions in policing a vigil in south London where a 33-year-old woman went missing and was later found murdered.

The murder of Sarah Everard, who disappeared on her way back home from a friend's place last week, has sent shockwaves across the UK as a serving Metropolitan Police officer appeared in court charged with her murder this week.

An unofficial gathering in memory of the victim ended up in scuffles with the police and four arrests as the Met Police acted to break up the crowds under the current Coronavirus lockdown

rules.

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, said Met Police Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball.

We repeatedly encouraged those who were there to comply with the law and leave. Regrettably, a small minority of people began chanting at officers, pushing and throwing items.

After speaking with officers, the vast majority of people quickly left. Four arrests have been made for public order offences and for breaches of the Health Protection Regulations, she said.

However, scenes of clashes between people gathered at the vigil and police officers on Saturday evening were shared widely across social media and resulted in outrage from different quarters, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan "urgently seeking an explanation" from Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.

Some of the footage circulating online from the vigil in Clapham is upsetting. I have asked the Metropolitan Police for a full report on what happened, said UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.