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Category: Sarah Everard

  • The courts have now handed over a hundred years in prison to the rebels of Bridewell

    Bristol Crown court has sentenced two more people to prison this week, for charges arising out of the city’s 2021 Kill the Bill demonstrations.

    Judge Patrick handed Jesse Geaney 12 months in prison on Monday 27 February for allegedly shining a laser pen towards a police helicopter at a Kill the Bill protest on 26 March 2021. He also sentenced Carl Davis to two and a half years for ‘riot’, for his role in the 21 March uprising outside Bridewell police station.

    Supporters held a demonstration outside the court on 28 February, in support of the defendants.

    Notorious sentencing

    Judge Patrick has presided over almost all of the Kill the Bill trials since March 2021. He has become notorious for handing down harsh sentences. In fact, 34 of Bristol’s Kill the Bill demonstrators have now received a total of over a hundred years in prison between them.

    The 2021 Kill the Bill protest was against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act (then a Bill), and came in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer. The mood was angry and defiant. And when police used shields and batons to attack the crowd, the protesters had had enough. People fought back – seizing police batons, shields, and helmets. Demonstrators breached the windows of the police station, and set several police vehicles on fire.

    Carl Davis was allegedly one of a crowd of people who kicked at the windows of Bridewell police station. The reinforced glass frontage eventually buckled and broke, as demonstrators attacked it with rocks, a skateboard, a bicycle, and reappropriated police batons.

    Before the sentencing on 28 February, Carl wrote this statement:

    Guess I’m off to Butlins to take one for the team! Plead guilty for riot as the evidence seemed too strong for trial. Ironically one of the main pieces of evidence was traces of my blood that in fact came from an injury caused by riot police which is a classic example of what really happened that day…

    I don’t even like to consider it as a riot when in my eyes it was just a peaceful protest against an inhumane bill that was turned violent by the police who broke countless laws and then lied to the media about getting injuries. All we did was defend each other and show the world that if the people who enforce the laws won’t abide by them then neither will we.

    Imprisoned for shining a laser pen

    On 27 February, Jesse Geaney was imprisoned for 12 months for allegedly shining a laser pen at a police helicopter. Jesse had been part of one of the Kill the Bill protests which followed the Bridewell uprising.

    On the Tuesday two days after the clash at Bridewell, a vigil was held on Bristol’s College Green in support of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community, who the PCSC Bill directly targeted. The cops were out for revenge. Hundreds of riot police attacked the vigil, bringing down their riot shields as weapons on the heads of protesters. The police violence set the scene for at least 10 more demonstrations, which saw intense physical force from riot cops, as crowds fought back.

    Police arrested Jesse after the third mass Kill the Bill demonstration, the following Friday 26 March. Riot cops – many of them on horseback – had been viciously attacking the crowd. Jesse was arrested after police claimed that the laser pen had forced their helicopter to change its flight path.The Tory government has passed legislation specifically against the use of laser pens to disrupt aircraft and other vehicles in recent years.

    Defence barrister Margot Munro-Kerr said that her client had a rare health condition called Marfans syndrome. This would make Jesse’s stay in prison more difficult. She explained that the prison was unable to provide Jesse with adequate care. However, Judge Patrick chose to impose a custodial sentence anyway.

    ‘Harsh and brutal’ sentencing

    Justice for Bristol Protesters (JBP) told The Canary that their members were “heartbroken” at the “callous and inequitable” sentences. JBP is a campaign made up of friends, families, and supporters of the defendants. One parent said:

    The prison sentences handed down this week have been harsh and brutal. The judge chose to totally disregard probation reports and their recommendations, which begs the question of why spend public money producing them.

    They emphasised the toll the sentences were taking on the defendants’ mental health. They also said that the agonising wait for trial is already comparable to serving a prison sentence:

    Given that these cases have taken the best part of two years to come to court and the devastating impact this has had on the mental health of the defendants and their families they have already served a sentence.
    These cases need to be reviewed and a full enquiry undertaken.

    Two years of state repression

    As we approach the second anniversary of the Bridewell uprising, the state’s repressive response is nowhere near over. The Kill the Bill trials are set to carry on at least until this summer. 34 people have already received custodial sentences, and many more are awaiting trial.

    In many ways, what’s happening in Bristol is a microcosm of what’s happening across the UK, as well as on a global scale. Here in the UK, the state is handing out more and more prison sentences to those who resist. On an international scale, states routinely act to stamp out rebellion wherever peoples’ anger spills out onto the streets. Local struggles like the one in Bristol are just one part of the global struggle of people against power. Perhaps we can take solace in the thought that when we suffer state crackdowns we are not alone. Countless others are experiencing the same struggle, and that state repression will only make people fight harder.

    Click here to donate to the Kill the Bill prisoners’ support fund.

    Featured images via Bristol Anti Repression Campaign and Carl Davis (with permission)

    By Tom Anderson

  • Four Kill the Bill defendants have been sentenced to nearly eleven years between them this week

    This week, Bristol Crown Court sentenced four defendants to nearly 11 years in prison between them. Police arrested all four for their role in Bristol’s 21 March 2021 Kill the Bill demonstration.

    Judge Patrick – who has become infamous in Bristol for handing out brutal sentences to the Bristol ‘riot’ defendants – sentenced Dominic Gillett to four years and eight months in prison. Dominic had pled guilty to ‘riot’. Joe Paxton and Indigo Bond received sentences of 27 months and 20 months respectively. Indigo and Joe were both found not guilty of riot in 2022 by juries, but had offered guilty pleas to the lesser charge of violent disorder.

    Charlie Milton received 26 months for violent disorder.

    On Friday 24 February, a demonstration in solidarity with the defendants was held outside Bristol Crown Court. Demonstrators chanted:

    Our passion for freedom is stronger than your prisons!

    From a demonstration to an uprising

    On 21 March 2021, officers from Avon and Somerset police attacked demonstrators with batons, and deployed horses and dogs against the protest. In footage from the night police officers can be seen repeatedly hitting people over the head with their riot shields

    The protest was against the draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, now enacted into law. It took place just after the brutal rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, and the mood was both angry and defiant. The police’s brutality toward the crowd was the final straw, and the demonstration became an anti-police uprising. When the police attacked, the crowd fought back.

    By the end of the evening protesters had smashed the windows of Bridewell Police Station, and several police vehicles were in flames.

    Massive sentences

    The Crown Court has so far imprisoned at least 32 people for their role that night, and in the demonstrations that followed. On top of that, one person is currently on remand. Their combined sentences total over 96 years in prison. Ryan Roberts was given the longest stretch so far – a massive 14 years.

    These 32 Kill the Bill prisoners are among an increasing number of people imprisoned in relation to political demonstrations. At least 54 people are reportedly serving time in the UK for their roles in protests and direct action.

    Almost all of the defendants were initially charged with riot, the most serious charge in English public order law. Riot carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, and has historically been used fairly rarely outside of Northern Ireland. The riot charge – for example – was not used against most of those arrested in the UK’s 2011 uprisings in London and elsewhere. On that occasion, the state opted to prosecute the majority of people for the lesser charge of violent disorder.

    But in recent years, riot has been increasingly used by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). For example, last year 18 people were imprisoned for riot after a confrontation with police broke out at a wake in Swansea.

    Protecting a way of life

    Many of the people now in prison went out to demonstrate against the PCSC Act because it would threaten their way of life. The Act targets the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community by allowing police to arrest people for residing in a vehicle  without the landowner’s permission, and even to confiscate their homes.

    Dominic Gillett – who was sentenced to over 4 years this week – had previously lived in a vehicle. Indigo Bond comes from a Traveller background too.

    Both Dominic and Indigo had joined the protest partly because of how the law would affect people living in vehicles.

    Dominic’s barrister told Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday that:

    He’d been living in a caravan before, and felt threatened by the Bill.

    Indigo told the court last year that she “didn’t agree with the bill because of its effects” on Travellers:

    I come from a travelling background, my grandad was a Traveller and my dad too.

    The PCSC Act is a direct threat to GRT livelihoods, it’s not surprising that people took to the streets to fight back.

    Protecting each other

    All of the people imprisoned this week were defending themselves – and others – from the violence of the police.

    On Tuesday, the court heard how Joe Paxton had carried Fleur Moody out of the crowd to safety. Fleur had been hit on the head by an overarm baton strike from an officer, in clear breach of police guidelines.

    The charges against Joe included the accusation that he tried to wrestle a police riot shield away from an officer. However, his defence barrister argued that he was trying to protect his partner – who the had already been badly beaten by officers.

    Indigo told the jury at her previous trial that she had stayed at the demonstration because:

    I thought it was important to help people who were being hit worse than me.

    She also said that she had kicked at the officers:

    to get them back, because I had seen them brutally hitting people next to me.

    Dominic Gillett’s defence barrister explained how he had kicked out after police officers hit a person standing next to him. She added that he had tried to give first aid to people who had been pepper sprayed by the police.

    The court also heard how Charlie Milton had shouted at an officer to put his baton down.

    ‘Our children should be released’

    Members of Justice for Bristol Protesters – a group of parents, friends, and supporters of the defendants – told the Canary that they are outraged and devastated by the harsh sentences still being handed out to their loved ones. One parent said:

    Our children are being sent to prison for reacting to the violence of some police on that day. Protesters were beaten black and blue yet not a single officer has been exposed, questioned or called to account. The convictions have a political motive and our children are political prisoners.

    The group statement continued:

    The police brutality experienced by the majority of the protesters, the drip, drip, drip approach to prosecutions and the long delays in sentencing is leaving these young people traumatised and vulnerable. Most of the young women prosecuted are being sent to HMP Eastwood Park, which has recently been heavily criticised by prison inspectors as ‘fundamentally unequipped to support the women in its care’ with cells ‘appalling, dilapidated and covered in graffiti’, one blood-splattered and some with extensive scratches on the walls.

    Another parent commented:

    The charges should be dropped and our children released.

    Brutal sentences becoming dangerously normalised

    I was there on 21 March 2021, and witnessed the events unfold. Since then, I have watched dozens of people receive prison sentences for their part in the uprising outside Bridewell. Like many other people in Bristol, I am full of sadness, anger and rage that they are being sentenced to years in prison for resisting against a brutal onslaught by Avon and Somerset police.

    I am proud of all the people who stood up against the police that night. And I am glad to live in a community where people aren’t scared to fight back. But it is terrifying that these sentences are becoming more and more normal.

    We must never let go of our rage and defiance at a system that imprisons our comrades. Further, we must always insist on fighting against injustice. We must remember the rebels of Bridewell, and support them through their sentences. Most of all, we need to continue to struggle against the system that put them there, and never let the fire of resistance – that burned so brightly that night at Bridewell – be extinguished.

    People in Bristol have set up a fund to support the Kill the Bill defendants through their sentences. You can donate here.

    Featured image via Bristol Anti Repression Campaign – with permission

    By Tom Anderson

  • It’s not surprising that one of the worst sex offenders in Britain is a Met police officer

    A Metropolitan Police officer has pleaded guilty to at least 29 sexual offences, including 14 rape charges. David Carrick was an armed police officer, serving in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command. He joined the Met in 2001 after leaving the army, and his attacks span a period of 18 years. The police force admitted that there are likely to be more victims who are too scared to come forward, and other women who couldn’t face the ordeal of a trial. Carrick used his position in the police to terrify women into staying silent.

    Inaction by the Met over Carrick

    The Met suspended Carrick in October 2021. However, Sky News has reported that:

    the Met Police confirmed Carrick “had come to the attention of the Met and other forces on nine occasions prior to October 2021” but had not been charged over those allegations against him.

    They included allegations of rape, domestic violence, and harassment between 2000 and 2021.

    Barbara Gray, the Met’s assistant commissioner, said:

    We should have spotted his pattern of abusive behaviour and because we didn’t, we missed opportunities to remove him from the organisation.

    However, the force chose to ignore multiple complaints. It didn’t miss them, as Gray claimed. Not only did the police force do nothing about the allegations, it even armed Carrick, giving him a gun in 2009. He even passed another vetting procedure in 2017, despite the force knowing about the allegations.

    This shows, once again, how disgustingly misogynist the Metropolitan Police is. It has such little regard for women’s safety that it ignored multiple complaints, and rewarded Carrick by promoting him up the ranks into an elite armed unit.

    Rampant misogyny

    It is hardly surprising that one of the worst sex offenders in Britain could be allowed to thrive in the Metropolitan Police. The Canary has extensively reported on the rampant misogyny in the Met. It took the brutal murder of Sarah Everard for the Met to announce that it would investigate all cases of sexual misconduct or domestic abuse allegations against its officers. Sarah was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by then-serving Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, in March 2021. He even remained an officer after police arrested him that month, and was only sacked in July, over a month after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping her.

    Just months after Sarah’s murder, Cressida Dick – who was then the Metropolitan Police Commissioner – was accused of “presiding over a culture of incompetence and cover-up”. Dick resigned in April 2022 after she was criticised for her handling of racist, misogynist, and homophobic messages shared by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station. The men sent WhatsApp and Facebook messages to each other, making multiple references to rape and violence against women. One officer was even referred to as “mcrapey raperson” because of rumours that he had brought a woman to a police station to have sex with her.

    It’s also important not to forget the Met’s handling of the murders of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, who were stabbed to death in a park in Wembley in June 2020. Their family had to search for the women themselves after the Met didn’t immediately respond to their calls for help. When the police did finally turn up, officers took selfies of themselves next to Bibaa and Nicole’s dead bodies. Their mother, Mina Smallman, said at the time:

    If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs of dead black girls and send them on. It speaks volumes of the ethos that runs through the Metropolitan Police.

    Thousands of women have been murdered or abused by the police

    In 2021, a report found that at least 194 women have been murdered by the police and prison system in England and Wales. In 2022, freedom of information requests from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that 82% of police officers who were accused of domestic abuse kept their jobs. The Guardian reported that:

    1,080 out of 1,319 police officers and staff who were reported for alleged domestic abuse during a three-year period were still working.

    The Guardian continued:

    The conviction rate of police officers and staff for domestic abuse is 3.4%, lower than the 6.3% in the general population.

    Institutional violence

    This being the case, it’s little consolation when the Met yet again sheds crocodile tears, apologising that one of its elite officers, Carrick, has been raping women for two decades. Gray said:

    We are truly sorry that being able to continue to use his role as a police officer may have prolonged the suffering of his victims.

    The Met will go on looking after their own, thriving on a culture of violence, racism, and misogyny. Its officers will, no doubt, continue to abuse and terrify women. These officers will be loose on the streets, arresting and traumatising women, children and Black communities with brutal and humilitating strip searches, while their undercover police officers will continue to invade women’s lives.

    Meanwhile, the state will continue to play its part, having passed a succession of new laws giving some of the country’s most violent men – police officers – inexhaustible new powers.

    The Met will start the process of sacking Carrick on Tuesday 17 January. Far too little, too late.

    Featured image via Guardian News/screen grab, resized to 770*403

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Sarah Everard vigil protester sues Met police after conviction

    Dania Al-Obeid brings human rights claim after being found guilty of breaching Covid restrictions without court hearing

    A woman who was arrested and charged after attending the vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham last year has launched civil proceedings against the Metropolitan police.

    Dania Al-Obeid was convicted for breaching coronavirus restrictions when attending the vigil in 2021 under a Single Justice Procedure, which allows a magistrate to decide on a case without the need for a court hearing.

    Continue reading…

  • Woman who took to the streets to remember Sarah Everard gets three years in prison

    Charly May Pitman was sentenced to three years in prison on 7 July for her part in last year’s Kill the Bill demonstration in Bristol. On 21 March 2021, thousands of people took to the streets to resist the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, and in anger at the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer.

    A large crowd of supporters packed out the courtroom and gathered outside the court to give Charly a send off. People chanted “Charly we’re proud of you, you are not alone” and “our passion for freedom is stronger than your prisons”.

    Charly went to the protest because she had been shocked to hear about the brutal rape and murder of Sarah.

    Nerida Harford-Bell – defending Charly – told the court:

    Sarah Everard was a young woman like Ms Pitman, she was walking the streets and she was attacked.

    She said that Charly went to the protest to remember Sarah:

    she went out to pay her respects – and to protect the right of women to be on the streets.

    Sentenced for “simply standing her ground”

    Charly is one of at least 82 people arrested following a succession of protests against the draconian PCSC Bill. During the protests, police hit people over the head with batons, cracked their shields onto activists’ skulls, and set police dogs on them. 62 people reported sustaining injuries from police violence.

    Bristol Anti Repression Campaign (BARC) commented:

    Charly has been sentenced for simply standing her ground near the front of the crowd, in the face of a police line in full riot gear. The evidence against her amounted to a few kicks towards officers, and throwing a small object. Video played in court by the defence clearly shows that – at the time when Charly fought back – the police were using extreme violence against the crowd, bringing their riot shields up above their heads and thrusting them down at protesters (in a practice known as blading), kicking demonstrators while they were on the floor, and striking people on the head with long batons.

    Harford-Bell asked Judge Lambert to give a suspended sentence. But Lambert said that there was “little room for mercy” as the riot charge left “little room for manoeuvre”.

    BARC pointed out that the jury in Charly’s case didn’t reflect the diversity of Bristol. They said:

    The jury in Charly’s case took just over an hour to come back. They couldn’t have properly discussed the evidence in Charly’s case in that time. The jury was majority white, and middle-aged. On the day of the verdict one jury member came to court in a union jack t-shirt. [BARC] stands with Charly, and with all of those who are in prison or going through the court system.

    Devastating repression

    BARC explained the devastating impact of the riot cases:

    So far, 20 people have been sentenced to prison time for their role in Bristol’s 21st March 2021 uprising against police violence, that began outside Bridewell Police station. Five more people will be sentenced this summer, and at least 20 people are still awaiting trial. Two others have been found not guilty of riot.

    Most of the sentences have been for between three and six years, but Ryan Roberts was given a massive 14 year prison sentence last year. We are full of anger at the government which is enacting laws to take away our freedom, and at the police who use violence to brutalise those who speak out.

    BARC expressed anger against the system that has imprisoned its comrades, and reaffirmed its support for those who fought back:

    We are full of rage at the so called ‘justice’ system that helps to hold this system in place.

    We are also full of inspiration at the spirit of rebellion that poured out onto the streets outside Bridewell. We are proud of the rebels of 21st March, we will not forget our comrades who are in prison. Their resistance, and the draconian sentences they are facing, are already inspiring a new generation of people in Bristol to fight.

    The PCSC Act is only the tip of the iceberg

    BARC says that the only way to resist the government’s new legislation is to build up our communities’ capacity to defend ourselves:

    The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act is now law, despite massive public opposition. The government is now enacting new repressive measures, such as the Public Order Bill and the Nationality & Borders Act. These pieces of legislation are a massive assault on all of us, and we must resist them by making ourselves ungovernable. We will do this by building up our communities capabilities to support one another, to defend ourselves, and to fight back.

    The group pointed out that this state legislation is applied unequally, and it disproportionately affects marginalised communities:

    The mainstream media has focused on how the new powers in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act will affect demonstrators. But we know that the police and the ‘justice’ system use their violence disproportionately against working class people and people of colour. This unequal treatment can be clearly seen in the death of Oladeji Omishore, a Black man who drowned in June 2022 whilst trying to escape the violence of the Metropolitan Police.

    The Act also aims to destroy Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities’ nomadic lifestyle, and it’s up to us to stand with them as they face the oppression of the state.

    BARC concluded their statement with a message of solidarity for the Kill the Bill defendants, and an invitation to others experiencing state repression to join together in struggle:

    BARC stands with all of the communities experiencing the violence of the police and the court system. We feel absolute love and rage for Charly. We stand with each and every one of the defendants who stood up for us all last year. We hope that we can connect with others who are struggling right now, to support each other, and to fight.

    People in Bristol are trying to raise £60k to support those in prison. You can donate to their crowdfunder here.

    Featured image by Eliza Egret

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • A jury in Bristol hears about the day that the city rose up against the Policing Bill

    A demonstration in front of Bristol Crown Court was held in support of Indigo Bond on the morning of Tuesday 3 May. Indigo is on trial for alleged rioting at the Kill the Bill demonstration in March 2021.

    Indigo’s trial is likely to last until the beginning of next week.

    A statement from the Bristol Anti-Repression Campaign (BARC) says:

    On March the 21st of last year, Indigo – who was only 19 at the time – took to the streets along with thousands of other Bristolians to protest against the authoritarian PCSC (Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts) Bill. This Bill – enacted into law on the 28th April 2022 – is an oppressive piece of legislation that violates our freedom to protest and directly persecutes marginalised communities.

    This Bill “couldn’t go unchallenged”

    Thousands of people came out to demonstrate on 21 March 2021, in a mass show of resistance against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill. The Bill was given Royal Assent last week, despite widespread opposition. The new Act gives the police more powers to arrest Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, and to clamp down on public protest. It also means that many people will have to serve a larger proportion of their prison sentences, allows life sentences to be imposed on people under the age of 18, and allows young adults to be given whole life imprisonment orders.

    On 21 March, thousands of people marched against the PCSC Bill in Bristol. The demonstration happened just weeks after the brutal rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, and just days after women holding a vigil for Sarah were violently manhandled by police. The march began at Bristol’s College Green, where a vigil was being held to remember Sarah.

    The march ended with a mass confrontation with police outside Bridewell Police Station. By the end of the evening, police vehicles had been set on fire and the police station’s windows had been smashed. 62 protesters reported suffering injuries at the hands of the police on 21 March, and the protests that followed in subsequent days.

    BARC’s statement explains the context of the protest, and why the PCSC Bill “couldn’t go unchallenged”:

    The state, police and prison system is defined by institutional racism, misogyny and brutality. The past years we’ve seen so many examples of this – such as the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, which happened just days before the protest Indigo went to. This Bill, which gives the police even more power, couldn’t go unchallenged.
    Indigo is just the latest person to stand trial for riot for the events of 21 March. Last week two defendants were found guilty by juries at Bristol Crown Court. In total, 85 people have been arrested following the demonstration, and 16 people have been sentenced to prison time.

    The BARC statement continues:

    The use of these riot charges is a way for the state to clamp down on those brave enough to stand against police violence and repression.

    Resisting the “encroachment of the police state into our lives”

    Indigo’s trial got underway on Tuesday 3 May. The impression given by the prosecuting barrister was of a powerful demonstration which took the police by surprise.

    The prosecutor, David Scutt, opened his case by showing footage of police officers telling the protesters on 21 March 2021 that the protest was unlawful because of the coronavirus public health measures that were in place at the time. However, Scutt admitted that the police had been incorrect in their assumption that the protests were in breach of lockdown measures, and that in fact the legislation did not say that protest was unlawful.

    Later on – during cross examination by defence barrister Russell Fraser – the court heard that the police had sent out social media posts during the day discouraging people from protesting.

    Scutt showed footage of the demonstrators gathering at College Green. During cross-examination, Fraser pointed out that the police Operational Log for the day showed that the police had been taken by surprise by the number of protesters. By about 2:15pm, the police log states that it was “no longer achievable” to disperse the demonstrators because of the number of people who had arrived.

    Scutt told the court that at about 3pm the marchers reached Castle Park. The jury was shown footage of a speech by one of the demonstrators. They said:

    We are here for one reason, and that’s the encroachment of the police state into our lives

    The speaker then said that there was only one place for the demonstration to go, and that was Bridewell Police Station.

    The jury was shown footage of police officers attempting – unsuccessfully – to disperse a sit-down protest close to Castle Park. Then, they were shown a video of the crowd setting off towards Bridewell.

    The court also heard from police sergeant Lucy Williams, who said she had formed part of the police cordon. She claimed that the police line was eventually forced to retreat to just outside Bridewell Police Station because of the sheer number of demonstrators.

    The prosecution itemised the damage caused by the end of the night, claiming that 23 police vehicles had been damaged, valued at an estimated £160k. Scutt conceded, however, that Indigo was not responsible for any of this damage.

    The jury was shown another video of the specific allegations against Indigo, which are all alleged to have happened relatively early on in the evening, when police in riot gear formed a line across the street. She is accused of pushing and kicking at the police riot shields, and of throwing a small stick and a bottle at the police line. The court heard that, after her arrest, Indigo made a prepared statement in her police interview, saying that she had felt “scared” after officers began threatening the crowd with batons, and that she had acted defensively in reaction to the police acting “excessively”.

    “Love and solidarity”

    BARC concluded their statement with a statement of solidarity with Indigo:

    Indigo has already been pre–judged in local and national media outlets, which published defamatory stories that have negatively affected her personal life – such as being excluded from her place of education

    We stand with Indigo and all those facing repression from the state for taking a stand against police violence. They have our love and solidarity.

    The prosecution’s case continues.

    Featured image via Shoal Collective (with permission)

    By Tom Anderson

  • Metropolitan Police officer charged with sexually assaulting colleague on duty

    A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a colleague while on duty.

    PC Joseph Demir is from the the North West Basic Command Unit. On 9 March, he was charged by post with sexual assault, the force said in a statement.

    Misogyny

    The force has recently come under extensive scrutiny for its apparent culture of misogyny. This is following the kidnapping, assault and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens, and officers sharing images of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

    Domestic violence charity Solace Women’s Aid said on Twitter:

    The alleged incident

    The incident is alleged to have occurred on 10 March 2020. At the time, Demir was a student officer at Hendon Training School. The offence was reported on 1 July 2020, and it appears that Demir has carried out his duties as normal during this time.

    Demir has not been suspended. However, he has been placed on restricted duties. He was charged following an investigation by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards.

    He’s due to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5 April.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Personal safety alarms blare at women’s protest against Met Police

    Hundreds of protesters have filled the streets of Westminster with the deafening shriek of rape alarms as part of a demonstration against the Metropolitan Police.

    Feminist campaign group Sisters Uncut led the protests. Activists blocked traffic, released bright blue smoke flares, and chanted “our streets” as they marched from Scotland Yard to Charing Cross police station in central London.

    The march marked just over a year since serving officer Wayne Couzens abducted Sarah Everard. And protesters told the PA news agency that they were demanding “radical change” from a “rotten to the core” Met.

    Sisters Uncut protest
    Protesters from feminist action group Sisters Uncut march from Scotland Yard to Charing Cross police station in central London (James Manning/PA)

    Sisters Uncut said 1,000 rape alarms were activated at the police station, following emotional speeches from protesters.

    ‘Radical change’

    Patsy Stevenson, who was arrested at an impromptu vigil for Everard last year, called for home secretary Priti Patel to resign. Stevenson spoke to the crowd at Charing Cross police station as dozens of officers watched on. She told PA she’s calling for “radical change from the whole of the policing system”.

    When asked how the Met can restore public trust, she said:

    First thing is accountability, holding your hands up and admitting you’ve done something wrong.

    Secondly they need to understand there needs to be radical change from the whole of the policing system.

    At the moment we don’t even need police, and that’s not how it should be.

    Sisters Uncut protest
    People attend the protest organised by Sisters Uncut (James Manning/PA)

    When asked whether she thought new leadership following Met’s commissioner Cressida Dick’s resignation would amount to change, Stevenson said:

    Just because she’s out doesn’t mean anything is going to change.

    Wiping away tears as she spoke to the crowd, Stevenson said Patel should resign next. She said:

    Cressida Dick – thank god she resigned.

    Priti Patel is next by the way, let’s not forget who’s in charge.

    That vigil was a vigil for Sarah Everard, and so many women are murdered at the hands of men.

    How dare they tell us to stay indoors.

    Patsy Stevenson has called for Home Secretary Priti Patel to resign at a feminist protest led by Sisters Uncut in Westminster (Laura Parnaby/PA).
    Patsy Stevenson has called for Home Secretary Priti Patel to resign (Laura Parnaby/PA)
    Police Bill

    Protester Marvina Newton described the police as “a corrupt system that’s rotten to the core”.

    “The bigger system is broken,” she told PA. She added:

    We want to kill the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, we want to make sure that our children’s children should be able to have the democratic right to fight an oppressive power.

    Marvina Newton at the Sisters Uncut protest (Laura Parnaby/PA)
    Marvina Newton at the Sisters Uncut protest (Laura Parnaby/PA)

    If passed, the bill would give police greater powers to control protests. They would be able to impose start and finishing times, set limits on noise, and fine protesters who break rules up to £2.5k.

    Educate men, not women

    Revisiting advice given following Everard’s murder, activist Jill Mountford said women “should never, ever be told again that the answer is to carry a rape alarm”.

    Mountford is a community worker from Lewisham, south-east London. She told PA:

    First of all, they (the government) need to stop the cuts that are happening to local authorities…

    We should never, ever be told again that the answer is to carry a rape alarm or to stay indoors.

    The answer doesn’t lie with us, it lies with men in society, it lies with the Government and the cops and the police particularly.

    Jill Mountford, 61, at a Sisters Uncut protest on Saturday (Laura Parnaby/PA)
    Jill Mountford at the protest (Laura Parnaby/PA)

    Breach of protesters’ rights

    Saturday’s protest also comes one day after High Court judges found the Met had breached the rights of organisers of the vigil for Everard. The court said the Met failed “to perform its legal duty” to consider whether they had a “reasonable excuse” for holding the gathering amid coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions.

    Sisters Uncut protest

    The Sisters Uncut protest began with a blockage on Victoria Embankment road outside Scotland Yard (James Manning/PA)

    Reclaim These Streets held the vigil for Everard near to where she went missing in Clapham, south London, in March 2021.

    The Met has been contacted for comment.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Met police breached rights of organisers of Sarah Everard vigil, court rules

    Reclaim These Streets welcomes judges’ decision as ‘a victory for women’ and calls for Met reform

    The Metropolitan police breached the rights of the organisers of a planned vigil for Sarah Everard in the way they handled the planned event, high court judges have ruled, in a decision hailed as a “victory for women”.

    Reclaim These Streets (RTS) proposed a socially distanced vigil for the 33-year-old, who was murdered by a serving Met officer, Wayne Couzens, near to where she went missing in Clapham, south London, in March last year.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Sarah Everard vigil organisers win High Court challenge against Met Police

    The Metropolitan Police breached the rights of organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard with its handling of the planned event, High Court judges have ruled. Reclaim These Streets (RTS) proposed a socially-distanced vigil for the 33-year-old, who was murdered by former Met officer Wayne Couzens, near to where she went missing in Clapham, south London, in March last year.

    The four women who founded RTS and planned the vigil brought a legal challenge against the force over its handling of the event, which was also intended to be a protest about violence against women. They withdrew from organising the vigil after being told by the force they would face fines of £10,000 each and possible prosecution if the event went ahead, and a spontaneous vigil and protest took place instead.

    Wayne Couzens court case
    Sarah Everard (Family handout)

    Breach of human rights

    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.

    In a ruling on Friday, two senior judges upheld their claim, finding that the Met’s decisions in the run up to the event were “not in accordance with the law”.

    In a summary of the ruling, Lord Justice Warby said:

    The relevant decisions of the (Met) were to make statements at meetings, in letters, and in a press statement, to the effect that the Covid-19 regulations in force at the time meant that holding the vigil would be unlawful.

    Those statements interfered with the claimants’ rights because each had a ‘chilling effect’ and made at least some causal contribution to the decision to cancel the vigil.

    None of the (force’s) decisions was in accordance with the law; the evidence showed that the (force) failed to perform its legal duty to consider whether the claimants might have a reasonable excuse for holding the gathering, or to conduct the fact-specific proportionality assessment required in order to perform that duty.

    A “threat” to police reputation?

    Lawyers representing the four told the court at a hearing in January that notes of a Met gold command meeting the day before the proposed event included a statement that “we are seen as the bad guys at the moment and we don’t want to aggravate this”.

    Sarah Everard death
    A woman holds up a placard at the bandstand in Clapham Common (Victoria Jones/PA)

    Tom Hickman QC, representing the four, said in written arguments:

    The most significant ‘threat’ identified was not public health but the perceived reputational risk to the (force), including in the event they were perceived to be permitting or facilitating the vigil.

    The Met defended the claim brought by Reclaim These Streets and argued there was no exception for protest in the coronavirus rules at the time, and that it had “no obligation” to assess the public health risk. RTS took urgent legal action the day before the planned event, seeking a High Court declaration that any ban on outdoor gatherings under the coronavirus regulations at the time was “subject to the right to protest”.

    But their request was refused and the court also refused to make a declaration that an alleged force policy of “prohibiting all protests, irrespective of the specific circumstances” was unlawful.

    Police handcuffed women on the ground

    Couzens, 49, was given a whole life sentence, from which he will never be released, at the Old Bailey in September after admitting her murder. The policing of the spontaneous vigil that took place drew criticism from across the political spectrum after women were handcuffed on the ground and led away by officers.

    A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services concluded the police “acted appropriately” when dealing with the event. But it also found it was a “public relations disaster” and described some statements made by members of the force as “tone deaf”.

    By The Canary

  • Holyrood protesters demand change one year on from Sarah Everard’s murder

    Women pledged to “put pressure on those in power” as they marked the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard.

    “Nothing has changed”

    Demonstrators gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh a year after the 33-year-old was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a serving Metropolitan Police officer as she walked home in South London. Her killing in March 2021 sparked outrage across the country, but campaigner Rachel Chung said 12 months on “nothing has changed”.

    Protesters gathered to mark the anniversary of Sarah Everard’s murder (Family handout/PA)

    To applause, Chung said:

    We’re not here looking to become martyrs, I don’t want to be a poster, I don’t want to front a news campaign. I don’t want to die.

    I want to wake up in the morning and know that I am treated like a person.

    Together with Alice Jackson she was inspired to form Strut Safe in the wake of Everard’s murder, with volunteers from the group  providing a free service to help women walk home safely in Edinburgh, along with phone support in the rest of the UK. Speaking at the rally, Chung insisted:

    We’re punching up, we’re here to put pressure on those in power, and if those in power are not prepared to listen then we will leave them behind.

    As long as we are out here protesting, as long as I can look out into this crowd and see all of you come out here, then I have hope, I have radical hope that we will see change.

    Because we’re not going to give up. There are more of us than there are of them, and because we are stronger than they are.

    Demonstrators demanded change (Jane Barlow/PA)

    With politicians mingling with demonstrators among the crowd, one mother took the chance to demand change. Jessica Ross attended the rally with three of her children, who were carrying flowers to remember Everard. As they were photographed, she shouted:

    A picture is awesome, but I shouldn’t have had to drag them out and explain why [Sarah Everard] died.

    “We should be able to live our lives”

    SNP MP Hannah Bardell told the crowd that male violence “continues to be a huge and pervasive issue”.

    The Livingston MP added:

    We have a problem in society across the UK. If we continue to ask what a woman was wearing, how drunk the woman was, how the woman got home, we are not going to take on the challenges we face of misogyny and male violence in our society.

    As long as we blame women for the actions of violent men, rather than changing society to challenge the actions of violent men, women and girls will continue to live with the restrictions and fear of male violence.

    Because it doesn’t matter if we are just walking home, or out for a run in the middle of the night, or dancing down the street in our knickers, we should be able to live our lives without fear of being murdered.

    SNP MP Hannah Bardell
    SNP MP Hannah Bardell told the crowd that male violence continued to be ‘a huge and pervasive issue’ (Jane Barlow/PA)

    Labour MSP Monica Lennon said:

    We are here tonight to remember Sarah Everard, but I hope we are here tonight to rage against the system, to rage against the patriarchy, to rage against those men who make us feel unsafe.

    The Central Scotland MSP said the rally was “also about all the other women who don’t get a mention, the women who were murdered behind closed doors by the people that they loved and trusted”. She added:

    We say tonight ‘enough is enough’.

    Tonight we are here to show respect, we are here to remember, but we are here to rage against the system.

    Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon said ‘enough was enough’ (Jane Barlow/PA)

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • On anniversary of Sarah Everard’s murder campaigners are demanding change

    At a memorial protest to mark the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard, campaigners will be demanding change, organisers have said. The killing of Sarah Everard – who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London – sparked outrage across the country one year ago.

    A rally is planned to remember Sarah, and other women killed by men, outside Holyrood on Thursday.

    A coming together

    Politicians including SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Labour MSPs Monica Lennon and Pauline McNeill are due to speak at the event, as well as Rape Crisis Scotland chief Sandy Brindley. Strut Safe founder Alice Jackson said the event has been planned as a “coming together to mark a year since the passing of Sarah Everard”.

    Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Jackson added:

    It’s not only demanding change and mourning the countless others lost to violence, but to demonstrate that progress is inevitable, it is the only path we will accept.

    It is to let those in Holyrood and wider society know that there is no place in our society for those who perpetrate violence, for those who protect the people who perpetrate it and encourage it.

    So we are just asking people to join us, to come together with us.

    Strut Safe was set up in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder, with volunteers providing a free service to help women walk home safely in Edinburgh, along with phone support in the rest of the UK.

    Jackson also said that Sarah Everard’s murder in March 2021:

    exposed the gravity of the situation in terms of how much misogyny there is in our culture, the brutality of misogynistic violence that many of us are constantly threatened by and suffer

    She added:

    It has served as a reminder for many and a wake-up call for so many of us that we are not protected or valued by some of the institutions that claim to do so.

    In the year since her passing we have lost so many more to violence, despite promises after her murder that her death would incite meaningful change.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Sarah Everard’s murder was ‘a watershed moment’ but the government failed to act

    The impact of Sarah Everard’s murder was a watershed moment for women’s safety that was wasted by the government, a campaigner has claimed.

    Jamie Klingler from Reclaim These Streets spoke to the PA news agency. She said that misogyny in the Metropolitan Police, Britain’s biggest force, must be rooted out with a full public inquiry.

    ‘A watershed moment that they wasted’

    Everard, 33, was raped and murdered by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London on 3 March 2021.

    Couzens had remained an officer despite twice being accused of indecent exposure. Once was in 2015 while working for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), where colleagues nicknamed him “the rapist”. And he was accused of indecent exposure a second time in the days before the murder.

    Sarah Everard, 33, whose murder by a serving police officer sparked public outrage
    Sarah Everard, 33, whose murder by a serving police officer sparked public outrage (Family handout/PA)

    Klingler said:

    It was a watershed moment and it was a watershed moment that they wasted.

    It was a watershed moment that could have changed our lives, that could have made our daughters safer, that could make us safer.

    And there were choices made for it not to be a watershed moment.

    “This isn’t one bad apple”

    Campaigners including Reclaim These Streets are part of a legal bid to try to force the government to hold a statutory public inquiry to investigate misogyny in policing.

    Currently, dame Elish Angiolini is leading the first part of a non-statutory inquiry. It looks at how Couzens was able to work as a police officer for three different forces despite concerns about his behaviour. Couzens worked for Kent police, the CNC and the Met.

    Following this, there are plans for a second part that would look at wider issues in policing.

    The Met has also commissioned its own review of the culture and standards at the force. This includes Couzen’s former unit – the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

    Klingler said:

    We absolutely continue to demand a statutory inquiry of police treatment of women, not of Wayne Couzens, not of a single person in a single act.

    We need to overall understand the deep levels of misogyny within the Met, and they need to be exposed and accounted for.

    If there’s not a statutory inquiry, police aren’t required to testify. The families aren’t given legal representation as interested parties. Reclaim These Streets are not given legal representation.

    It just becomes the bogeyman of Wayne Couzens.

    This isn’t one bad apple and there’s no way to fix the force without rooting all of this out.

    Misogyny from Met officers

    The Metropolitan Police are facing serious concern over the behaviour of officers.

    In the wake of Everard’s death, one officer faced misconduct proceedings after sharing a highly offensive meme relating to her kidnap.

    Moreover, constables Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were jailed for taking photographs of the bodies of murdered Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman and sharing them on WhatsApp.

    Two police officers were jailed after sharing WhatsApp images of the bodies of Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman.
    Two police officers were jailed after sharing WhatsApp images of the bodies of Bibaa Henry (left) and Nicole Smallman (Victoria Jones/PA)

    And, earlier this month, the police watchdog published disturbing misogynist, homophobic and violently racist messages shared by Charing Cross Police station officers between 2016 and 2018.

    The fallout led to the resignation of commissioner Cressida Dick after London mayor Sadiq Khan said he wasn’t satisfied with her response to the scandal.

    An epidemic

    Klingler described violence against women as “an epidemic”.

    The past year has seen a number of high profile alleged stranger murders of women. They include the deaths of PCSO Julia James and teachers Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy.

    Another case saw labourer Valentin Lazar jailed for life for beating Maria Rawlings to death after a chance meeting on a bus.

    Klingler said:

    The idea that we can’t just get home safe and alive is insane for half the population.

    It isn’t that we’re harassed once in our lives and then we have a horror story to tell, it’s a constant decision tree of, ‘How do I avoid conflict? How do I not get noticed? How do I avoid putting myself in harm’s way?’

    There’s a woman killed every three days and nobody’s doing anything about it.

    This week police are expected to be told to make tackling violence against women and girls as much a priority as fighting terrorism, child sexual abuse and serious and organised crime.

    Commenting on the move, home secretary Priti Patel said the safety of women and girls is an “absolute priority”, adding:

    I do not accept that violence against them is inevitable.

    The government is also launching an advertising campaign focusing on “targeting and challenging perpetrators and harmful attitudes”, the Home Office said.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Met officers charged over alleged offensive messages to killer cop Wayne Couzens

    Three police officers who worked with Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens have been charged over allegations they shared racist and misogynistic messages with him. Two serving Metropolitan police officers and one former officer have been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on WhatsApp, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

    The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) sent prosecutors a file on allegations the three shared racist and misogynistic messages with Couzens between April and August 2019. The three are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 16. The CPS said it cannot confirm the names of the officers for operational reasons.

    “Grossly offensive messages”

    Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said:

    Following a referral of evidence by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the CPS has authorised charges against two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer.

    All three will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 March for their first hearing.

    Each of the three defendants has been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network. The alleged offences took place on a WhatsApp group chat.

    The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges to a court to consider.

    Criminal proceedings are active and nothing should be published that could jeopardise the defendants right to a fair trial.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • CPS considering charges against Met officers over Wayne Couzens messages

    Three Metropolitan police officers who worked with Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens could face charges over allegations they shared racist and misogynistic messages with him.

    “Grossly offensive”

    Prosecutors are considering a file of evidence referred by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into the “alleged sending and sharing of inappropriate messages by police officers”. Couzens is serving a whole-life order after kidnapping, raping, and murdering the 33-year-old last year.

    The watchdog has sent evidence concerning two serving Met officers, and a former officer at the force, for consideration of offences regarding “grossly offensive material” under the Communications Act. It comes after the IOPC launched a probe into claims they and other officers sent “discriminatory messages” – reportedly racist and misogynistic – over WhatsApp between March and October 2019 after the information was recovered from an old mobile phone found during the police probe into Everard’s murder.

    Wayne Couzens court case
    Wayne Couzens will be behind bars for the rest of his life (Metropolitan Police/PA)

    A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said:

    We are considering a file of evidence referred to us by the IOPC in relation to the alleged sending and sharing of inappropriate messages by police officers.

    The IOPC said:

    Our investigation into the sending and sharing of inappropriate messages by officers on WhatsApp has been completed.

    We provided a file of evidence to the CPS in December to consider potential offences against three individuals under the Communications Act 2003. We await its decision.

    The Met confirmed the two serving officers are on restricted duties. A force spokesperson said:

    We are keenly aware that the events following Sarah Everard’s death have rocked the public’s faith in us, and we know that we have to work hard and make real changes in order to earn back that trust.

    Every Met employee has been personally emailed by the commissioner about adhering to professional boundaries, their use of social media, and their duty to call out inappropriate behaviour and report prejudice.

    The IOPC has concluded the investigation into another Met officer, one from Norfolk, and one from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary – where Couzens previously worked – but said it is currently unable to comment further on whether it has recommended disciplinary proceedings.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • A new Met Police scheme to ‘keep women safe’ misses the point entirely

    The Met Police still don’t get it. Or at least that’s what people are saying about their latest scheme to rebuild women’s trust since Sarah Everard’s murder. The force’s new rules mean that plain-clothes cops must prove their identity as police to lone women.

    But there is a problem. Sarah Everard was murdered by a real cop who was in active service. So it’s not altogether clear exactly how this new initiative would make a real difference.

    Killer cop

    In September 2021, firearms officer Wayne Couzens was given life in jail for murdering the 33-year-old Everard in March 2020. He used his authority as a cop to arrest, handcuff and kidnap her.

    Now the Met says plain clothes officer dealing with lone women will videocall headquarters, where someone will confirm the officer’s ID:

    But as many people on Twitter were quick to point out, even if Couzens had done this he would have been confirmed as a real cop. Because that is precisely what he was:

    Another Twitter user agreed that the new process did nothing to address the issue. And that the video itself was pretty creepy:

    While another Twitter user was concerned whether the new ID process will tell you about the officer’s own background. Such as if he is has a history of sexual misconduct:

    And another person pointed out how quickly the Met had created a narrative that Wayne Couzens was somehow an outsider, rather than what he was: an actively serving cop. And we should add, a serving cop with a long and identifiable history of sexual misconduct:

    It seems like the Met Police will have to do a lot more than dream up these kind of madcap schemes if they want to win back the trust of women – or anyone else for that matter.

    Featured image – Wikimedia Commons/Philius.

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • United Families & Friends Campaign remembers victims of UK state violence

    Content warning: the article below contains details of deaths in police custody that readers may find distressing

    Preparations are underway for the United Families & Friends Campaign’s (UFFC) annual rally and remembrance procession. The campaign group is made up of bereaved families and others affected by deaths at the hands of UK police, in prisons, in immigration systems, and psychiatric custody. Since 1999, UFFC has organised an annual procession and rally to remember their loved ones and to demand justice for those killed by police and in custody. This year’s rally will take place in central London on 30 October 2021.

    Still fighting for justice

    Bereaved families of people killed at the hands of the state established UFFC in 1997 to demand accountability and systemic change. This was originally a Black-led organisation, given the disproportionate number of Black people killed in custody. Today, the group supports and campaigns on behalf of all families who has lost a loved one to state violence. 

    There have been at least 1,797 deaths in police custody or following police contact since 1990. But prior to the conviction of PC Benjamin Monk for the killing of Dalian Atkinson in June 2021, no officer had been convicted of manslaughter following a death in police contact or custody for 35 years. In the wake of then-serving police officer Wayne Couzens’ false arrest, kidnapping, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard, the Met has announced that it’s launching a review of professional standards and internal culture within the force.

    Justice and accountability

    Regarding the announcement of an inquiry, UFFC campaigner Marcia Rigg said:

    I believe that the scope of the inquiry should be widened to look at other deaths and the way that those investigations are carried out or put to bed, so to speak

    Rigg’s brother Sean Rigg died in custody in 2008 following prone restraint by officers while he was experiencing a mental health crisis. The 2012 inquest found that Rigg died of a cardiac arrest following “unnecessary” and “unsuitable” restraint. However, only one officer was subjected to criminal investigation in relation to the case – sergeant Paul White. White was charged with perjury, but was later acquitted. All misconduct charges against the five Met Police officers in relation to Rigg’s death were dropped in 2019.

    Highlighting the need for justice and accountability for every death at the hands of police, UFFC campaigner and Ultraviolence director Ken Fero told The Canary:

    The United Families & Friends Campaign welcomes the recent public attention that has been brought on the issue of lethal police violence following the successful prosecutions of serving police officers for the killings of Dalian Atkinson and Sarah Everard.

    He added:

    We march this year, as we have done since 1999, so that public attention is brought to the many hundreds of other cases of deaths at the hands of the police over the years. These deaths also need justice and we gather to remember our loved ones and demand political action on these cases.

    State violence in the UK

    The 2017 Angiolini review set out over 100 recommendations on how institutions could minimise the risk of death in custody and better support bereaved families seeking justice. The government has implemented some, but not all of these recommendations.The number of deaths in or following police custody slightly increased between 2018/19 and 2019/20. However, even now, bereaved families are still fighting for justice and struggling to have their voices heard.

    Rather than instituting rigorous changes that could see the number of deaths in custody drop, the government now seeks to strengthen the authority and legitimacy of oppressive state forces. If passed, the draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill would further increase police powers and impunity, and it will expand the carceral state in the UK. Meanwhile, the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill would further intensify the cruel hostile environment which has already claimed lives. These changes would likely disproportionately impact Black and other racially minoritised communities, working class communities, neurodiverse people, and people experiencing mental health crises – people who are already over-policed, under-protected, and who bear the brunt of state violence.

    No justice, no accountability

    UFFC’s network includes the families of:

    • Joy Gardner, a Jamaican woman who died after police shackled, bound, and gagged her with 13 feet of surgical tape during a deportation raid on her home in 1993.
    • Ibrahim Sey, who died in 1996 after officers sprayed him with CS gas and restrained him for 15 minutes during a mental health crisis.
    • Christopher Alder, who choked to death in 1998 while handcuffed, lying face down and unconscious in a pool of his own blood while South Yorkshire Police officers made monkey noises.
    • Roger Sylvester, who died in 1999 after restraint by police in a psychiatric hospital. The High Court overturned the jury’s unanimous verdict that officers unlawfully killed him.
    • Mikey Powell, who died in 2003 after West Midlands Police officers hit him with their car, beat him, CS sprayed him, restrained him, then arrested him.
    • Paul Coker, who died having been detained by 15 officers in 2005.
    • Seni Lewis, who died in 2010 three days after officers restrained him with “excessive force” when he attempted to leave a hospital (where he was a voluntary patient).
    • Adrian McDonald, who died in a police van in 2014 having been “arrested, restrained, bitten by a police dog”, tasered, and left alone while struggling to breathe.
    • Jack Susianta, who drowned in 2015 aged 17 during a police chase.
    • Sheku Bayoh, who died in 2015 having been CS sprayed, hit with batons, handcuffed, and restrained by nine officers while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
    • Darren Cumberbatch, who died in 2017, nine days after officers restrained him while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
    • Rashan Charles, who died in 2017 after restraint by an officer who followed him into a shop.
    • Cameron Whelan, who was found dead in the river Avon days after a police pursuit in 2018.

    Their bereaved families – and many, many more – are yet to see justice or accountability.

    Annual rally 2021

    UFFC’s annual procession is supported by a host of organisations including Black Lives Matter UK, 4WardEverUK, INQUEST, Tottenham Rights, Sisters Uncut, the Newham Monitoring Project, the Institute of Race Relations, and the National Union of Students.

    UFFC’s remembrance procession begins at midday on 30 October. Anyone looking to take part can join them at Trafalgar Square. The group will lead a silent procession through Whitehall. This will be followed by a “noisy protest” outside Downing Street. The Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP) has organised a coach from Manchester for people looking to join from the Northwest. UFFC is also urging people to bolster the campaign by donating to the National Mikey Powell Memorial Family Fund, which supports the families of people killed in custody.

    The fact that families and campaigners are still fighting the same battles decades later underlines the legitimacy of calls to abolish prisons and policing. In these distressing times, it’s important that we raise our collective voice in solidarity with bereaved families to demand justice, accountability, and an end to the potentially lethal expansion of police powers, prisons, and immigration detention sites.

    Featured image via United Families & Friends Campaign 

    By Sophia Purdy-Moore

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • It took Sarah Everard’s murder for Met Police to examine sexual misconduct and abuse claims against officers

    Following Sarah Everard’s murder, the Metropolitan police are finally going to examine all current cases of sexual misconduct or domestic abuse allegations against London’s police officers.

    Cressida Dick, commissioner for the force, announced on 8 October that they’re launching the investigation. Dick added that similar allegations made against officers and workers at the force over the last 10 years will also be reviewed.

    ‘Institutional corruption’

    But Dick herself has been accused of “presiding over a culture of incompetence and cover-up”. Her response to a panel which found ‘institutional corruption’ in the Met was described as “most disappointing”.

    Officers from the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards will analyse each of the cases internally. And they’ll undertake a thorough check of the vetting history of Met Police staff involved in the claims.

    Dick told the PA news agency:

    We’ll be reviewing [the allegations] to make sure that the victim has been properly supported, and that the investigation is suitably thorough.

    We’ll also be going back to look at some of those [historic] investigations just to make sure that the processes that should have taken place have taken place and that we are taking the right management action after the case is closed.

    ‘Undermined trust’

    The force said in a statement that the examination was being held in the aftermath Everard’s murder by former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens and other cases that have “undermined trust”. It’s been launched in addition to an independent review into the Met’s culture by baroness Casey of Blackstock.

    The announcement came as Dick undertook a walkabout in Battersea Park, south-west London, with two female officers on 8 October. She also addressed a report in the Times newspaper which says home secretary Priti Patel has set Dick three key targets to meet in order to keep her job.

    Dick told the PA news agency:

    There were a number of things that the Home Secretary has discussed with me and I’ve discussed with her about how we can work most effectively together in the future, but we share the same priorities.

    A history of calamity

    Dick recently presided over the “excessive” and “disproportionate” use of force against women holding a vigil in Sarah Everard’s memory. The police officers, whose colleague killed Everard, went on to ‘breach the human rights’ of those honouring her memory. These were officers under Dick’s command.

    Dick said conversations were had in the run-up to her contract being extended with London mayor Sadiq Khan. She added that the trio are all focused on “the same things”, including reducing violence in the capital and preventing violence against women and girls. Asked again about the reports, Dick said the conversations she had with Patel were “private” and she wouldn’t comment on them further.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Sisters Uncut launch CopWatch patrols after Sarah Everard’s murder

    Activists have announced training to intervene in police activities in the wake of revelations about Sarah Everard’s murder.

    Sisters Uncut is offering police intervention training to help ordinary people know their rights and support others in dangerous policing situations. It said it will use the training to set up national “CopWatch patrol groups”.

    Sisters Uncut told The Canary:

    This training is vital right now because the government is planning to increase police powers. As we saw in the case of Sarah Everard (Wayne Couzens arrested Sarah using new COVID regulations), increased police powers mean increased, unaccountable police violence.

    If passed, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will make all marginalised communities – Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, sex workers, Black and brown people, women and anyone protesting – less safe.

    Every stop and search must be treated as a kidnapping, which in turn could become another death in custody.

    We must resist together. The police are the perpetrators and we must keep each other safe. Sisters Uncut is holding training sessions on police intervention, and the launch of a nationwide network of CopWatch patrols.

    False arrest

    It announced the training during Wayne Couzens’ sentencing after it emerged that he had arrested Everard while others looked on, assuming she had done something wrong. After kidnapping Everard, then serving police officer Couzens raped and murdered her. He was sentenced to a whole life term in prison on 30 September.

    As the revelations emerged, many women and people from marginalised communities said that the police did not make them feel safe.

    “Run away and call 999”

    When asked how women should keep themselves safe, police have given a range of answers, including hailing bus drivers, or ‘not submitting to arrest‘ as one police commissioner said.

    The Met Police also suggested women could “run away” from a plainclothes officer and call 999.

    The suggestions were met with derision and outrage.

    The Met also advised people to challenge the identity of plainclothes police officers. Couzens had a warrant card and was carrying identification.

    But as many pointed out, challenging Couzens’ identity would have likely resulted in nothing, given he was a serving police officer at the time.

    Misogyny in the police

    Couzens was reportedly part of a WhatsApp group of police officers and police contractors who exchanged misogynistic and racist messages. As of 1 October, two of the officers investigated for being in the group were reportedly still on duty.

    Many people have lost trust in the police – a reality People of Colour have faced for decades.

    Sisters Uncut

    Sisters Uncut, which was first formed as an intersectional feminist group campaigning for domestic violence victims, has been one of the most prominent voices since Everard’s murder saying that the police do not protect us.

    It pitched the training so people arrested by the police or onlookers would have the education to intervene and give as much help as possible.

    Sisters Uncut wrote:

    While the Metropolitan Police want us to believe that Couzens is an individual case, he is not just a bad apple – the police are an institution rotten to its core.

    Between April 2015 and April 2018 there have been more than 700 reports of domestic abuse against police officers. And one woman a week has come forward to report a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence.

    It added:

    We will resist every attempt made by the government and the police to brush their culpability under the carpet as well as every callous attempt they make to use gendered violence to give the police more power to abuse us.

    Couzens’ arresting Everard using COVID legislation shows us that more police powers = more violence. We say no!

    You can sign up for police intervention training with Sisters Uncut here.

    Featured image via Unsplash/Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona

    By Jasmine Norden

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Officers shared misogynistic, racist and homophobic messages with Sarah Everard’s murderer

    Police officers allegedly shared offensive messages with Wayne Couzens in the months before he killed Sarah Everard, according to reports.

    The police watchdog is investigating the conduct of several officers over allegations they sent the discriminatory messages over WhatsApp.

    Criminal probe

    The material was said to be misogynistic, racist and homophobic, the Times reported.

    As a result, two Met officers and another who used to work at the force, not Couzens, are the subject of a criminal probe by The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for improper use of phones.

    They, alongside a Norfolk police officer and one from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and another from the Met, are under investigation. It’s over allegedly sending the messages between March and October 2019. They’re also under investigation for claims that they failed to challenge the messages.

    The mobile phone messages were discovered during the police investigation into Everard’s murder.

    The officers are among 16 people the IOPC is looking at in several misconduct probes.

    The watchdog said it will soon decide what further action will be taken against a police constable on probation. The officer ended up staffing the cordon in the search for Everard. He was investigated for gross misconduct for allegedly sending an inappropriate image over WhatsApp about the case while off-duty.

    Two other constables on probation were also investigated over allegations that they shared the graphic and failed to challenge it.

    Lord Justice Fulford sentencing former police officer Wayne Couzens (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
    Lord Justice Fulford sentencing former police officer Wayne Couzens (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

    More alleged misconduct

    The watchdog’s report and conclusions have been passed on to Met Police.

    Findings will be published when a final decision has been made on what action will be taken against another group of officers. In this group, officers hail from several different forces. And they face allegations that one shared details of the interview Couzens gave under caution when there was “no policing purpose to do so”. Moreover, six others in the group allegedly failed to challenge this, two of which were accused of joining in the conversation.

    The IOPC said criminal or gross misconduct investigations do not necessarily mean that charges or disciplinary proceedings will follow.

    An investigation into how Couzens sustained head injuries while in custody on 10 and 12 March found they were “self-inflicted” and Met police followed the correct procedures.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Don’t be fooled by the Met’s ‘anger’ and ‘devastation’ at Sarah Everard’s murder. The institution is complicit.

    Content warning: the article below contains material some readers may find distressing

    On 30 September, Lord Justice Fulford handed down a whole life sentence to Wayne Couzens for the “devastating, tragic and wholly brutal” murder of Sarah Everard. Couzens was a serving Metropolitan Police officer when he kidnapped, raped and murdered Everard. He remained an officer after police arrested him in March. The force eventually sacked him in July, over a month after Couzens pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and rape of Everard, and a week after he pleaded guilty to her murder. Although the Met Police has attempted to distance itself from Couzens’ actions, campaigners have been quick to highlight that the institution is wholly complicit in Everard’s murder.

    Another death in police custody

    On 29 September, Couzens appeared at the Old Bailey for his sentencing in the kidnap, rape and murder of Everard. The court heard that Couzens – who was a serving Met Police officer at the time – handcuffed and falsely arrested Everard on 3 March in Clapham. Couzens showed Everard his warrant card before restraining her. Someone witnessed the off-duty officer handcuffing Everard and leading her to his car. They assumed that the young woman “must have done something wrong”. After kidnapping her, Couzens raped and murdered Everard, and left her body in the countryside.

    Reflecting on the devastating details of Everard’s murder, Roxy Legane tweeted:

    Jason Okundaye shared:

    In court, it emerged that Couzens may have may have used coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown regulations to stop Everard, who was on her way home. Underlining the injustices of the unprecedented restrictions and new police powers that the government introduced in the wake of the pandemic, Moya Lothian-McLean tweeted:

    Sarah Everard’s horrifying death drew widespread attention. But people from Black and other racially minoritised groups are overrepresented in the number of deaths following police contact. Urging people to critically assess officers’ conduct on the streets, Kojo Coram shared:

    Not just ‘one bad apple’

    Scotland Yard issued a statement ahead of Couzens’ sentencing, saying: 

    Georgia Lewis responded:

    Pre-empting the force’s attempts to distance itself from Couzens’ heinous crimes, feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut tweeted:

    Otegha Uwagba also shared:

    Sharing this sentiment, Black Lives Matter UK shared:

    Underlining the toxic culture and lack of accountability inherent in the country’s police forces, Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome shared:

    Feminist campaign group Level Up added:

    Calling for institutional accountability, senior researcher at the Center for Countering Digital Hate Sophie Wilkinson tweeted:

    No more police powers

    Highlighting the devastating impact of the government’s ‘law and order’ response to Everard’s murder, one Twitter user shared:

    Expanded police powers will hit people from already overpoliced and underprotected communities hardest – working class communities, communities of colour, disabled people, queer folks, and people from marginalised genders. Urging people to resist the inevitable expansion of police powers in response to Everard’s case, Ilyas Nagdee tweeted:

    Shahed Ezaydi explains carceral feminism as “feminism that pushes for increased policing, surveillance, and harsher laws and policies when dealing with gendered violence”. This is based on the flawed assumption that these systems and institutions are fundamentally just, supportive and benevolent to all victims and survivors. Seeking abolitionist alternatives to carceral feminist solutions to gendered violence, Sisters Uncut has launched a Copwatch Police Intervention project:

    Anyone looking to get involved in the Sisters Uncut’s new programme can sign up via the organisation’s online form. The horrifying details of Couzens’ conduct, and the lack of institutional accountability regarding the case show us just how vital it is that we maintain momentum in resisting the state’s increasingly authoritarian agenda.

    Featured image via Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona/Unsplash

    By Sophia Purdy-Moore

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Why ‘she was just walking home’ feeds a victim-blaming narrative

    The murder of Sabina Nessa as she walked through a London park has, rightly, shaken women across the country yet again. It seems like only days ago we were reading similar headlines about Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry, and Nicole Smallman.

    As women, we are sick and tired of being told to moderate our behaviour. “Follow the rules”, they say. “Don’t walk alone in the dark”. “Don’t be drunk”. “Don’t dress a certain way”. How, exactly, does moderating our behaviour in any way address the root issue: the misogyny entrenched in our society? As women, it’s not our responsibility to make sure we are safe. It’s our most basic right to be safe. If you’re a man reading this, it’s your responsibility to tackle misogyny within our society. Please don’t respond with, “but not all men”. Please don’t ignore the fact that this is a systemic failing that you’re a part of.

    The majority of women aren’t actually murdered on the street

    According to Counting Dead Women, at least 108 women have been killed by men, (or where a man is the principal suspect), in 2021 so far. On average, this year, a man has killed a woman every 2.5 days. Think about this. Every 2.5 days. This figure is far greater than the stories covered by news headlines. Usually, it’s young women, murdered while walking on our streets who are deemed worthy of mainstream media attention. “She was just walking home,” we now hear all the time.

    But the majority of women aren’t killed while walking down a city street. The Femicide Census names all of the 1,425 women killed by men in the UK over a decade, between 2009 and 2018. It has found that 62% of women are killed by their current or former partner. Others are murdered by relatives. In 92% of the cases, the women knew their killer. Many of the women had lived for years in abusive relationships, subjected to coercive control. In fact, the researchers argue that coercive control in a relationship is key to understanding whether a woman is in danger of being murdered.

    The ages of the 108 women killed by men this year vary greatly: 71-year-old Christina Arnold was killed by her husband of fifty years. 85-year-old Loretta Herman’s son was charged with her murder. And as I write this, the ex-partner of 26-year-old Bethany Vincent has stood up in court and denied her murder. Vincent was stabbed to death in a house, along with her nine-year-old son.

    Don’t ignore domestic abuse victims

    By giving the greatest headlines to those who were “just walking home”, or who were attacked on the street by strangers, are we somehow victim-blaming the women who were murdered by people they know, inside their homes? Are those killed by their husbands seen as less innocent? As a society, do we see them as complicit in their abuse because they weren’t murdered by a stranger, or because they didn’t walk away from their abuser?

    The Canary spoke to Alice Chambers, who works with survivors of domestic abuse. She said:

    We know that when women are killed it is usually by someone they know – two women are killed a week by a partner or ex-partner in England and Wales. Yet it is often when the perpetrator is a stranger that the story hits the headlines and protests ensue. What does this tell us about our views of domestic abuse victims?

    Chambers continued:

    Women are often blamed for the harm perpetrated against them by men. It seems this is even more so when women are attacked by their partners or ex-partners, with common responses being that she must have driven him to it or that she should have left him. Women killed by their partners and ex-partners are just as worthy of our compassion and rage as those killed by strangers and they are in no way responsible for what happened to them. We must get educated about domestic abuse and challenge these harmful myths.

    State failings

    Independent magazine Hate Zine, summaries our society nicely when it says:

    [Women’s] behaviour is constantly scrutinised, dissected and micromanaged by a society which is somehow still able to ignore the entrenched misogyny within.

    I have already written about how the state should be held accountable for the murder of women. Back in December 2020 I wrote:

    Under UK law, a perpetrator receives a minimum sentence of 15 years for murder if the weapon he used was already in the home where he committed the crime. But if the perpetrator takes a weapon to different location and kills someone, he is sentenced for a minimum of 25 years. It’s a travesty that the murder of someone in a home can be seen as a less serious murder than one on the street. And because most women are killed in their homes, this law can be seen as systemically sexist.

    And in April 2021 I wrote about how the government rejected amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill: amendments that might have protected women more.

    The issue is men

    By focusing only on the victims who are attacked on the streets, it’s easy for the government and the police to come up with half-hearted solutions, like lighting our streets better, or giving us suggestions not to walk alone. And by ignoring all those domestic abuse victims murdered by men, the state don’t have to face the actual issue at hand. And that is male violence.

    The issue isn’t about whether we are safe alone at night. We aren’t even safe in our own homes, surrounded by those who are supposed to love us the most. So while we grieve Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard, remember, too, 85-year-old Loretta Herman, 71-year-old Christina Arnold and more than one hundred more women in 2021 who have barely made news headlines. Let’s continue to shout all of their names in rage as we fight against entrenched misogyny.

    Featured image via a Bristol activist. Used with permission

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Police forces ignored sexual harassment allegations against Sarah Everard’s killer

    The Metropolitan Police force is under pressure to investigate how Sarah Everard’s killer was able to continue serving as an officer despite several sexual harassment allegations.

    Serving constable Wayne Couzens had been accused of indecent exposure three times before he abducted Everard in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.

    He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of the 33-year-old marketing executive on Friday 9 July. He had previously admitted to her kidnap and rape.

    ‘Epidemic of male violence’

    Harriet Wistrich is director of the Centre for Women’s Justice. She’s among those calling for a full public inquiry into “police failures and misconduct and the wider culture of misogyny” following Couzens’ guilty plea.

    Everard’s murder sparked protests by women fearing for their own safety earlier in 2021.

    Wistrich said:

    As protesters made clear, women do not feel safe and it is incumbent on the Government and all criminal justice agencies to now take action over the epidemic of male violence which is the other public health crisis of our day.

    Sarah Everard death
    Wayne Couzens (Met Police)

    Failures

    Nick Thomas Symonds, the shadow home secretary, has also urged police to review their vetting process.

    The Labour MP said:

    Society puts huge trust in the police to keep us safe…

    It is absolutely vital that everything possible is done to ensure this can never happen again.

    The Metropolitan Police and wider policing must look at vetting processes and their own safeguarding systems to ensure people who pose a threat to the public are not able to hold such vital positions of trust.

    An indecent exposure allegation against Couzens dates back to 2015. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched an investigation into alleged failures by Kent Police to investigate the allegation.

    An IOPC probe is also ongoing into alleged failures by the Met police. That’s in relation to allegations of indecent exposure linked to Couzens in London in February 2021. Two officers are under investigation for possible breaches of professional standards.

    The watchdog said a total of 12 gross misconduct or misconduct notices have so far been served on police officers from several forces relating to the Couzens case.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Report highlights ‘significant failings’ in the policing of Sarah Everard vigil and Bristol protests

    On 1 July, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Democracy and the Constitution published a report following its inquiry on the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil in London and Kill the Bill protests in Bristol. The report highlights “significant failings” in the policing of both events. It sets out that the policing of the Sarah Everard vigil in Clapham was “unlawful and breached fundamental rights”. It adds that Avon and Somerset Police used “disproportionate” force against Kill the Bill protesters in Bristol.

    A damning report

    In March, hundreds attended a vigil in Clapham, London to pay their respects to 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who was abducted and killed by a serving police officer while walking home. As reported by The Canary, attendees were met with “violent” and heavy-handed policing.

    Regarding the Sarah Everard vigil, the APPG report found that the Metropolitan Police’s “assumption that the gathering was unlawful… was the wrong place to start”. It adds that assistant commissioner Louisa Rolfe displayed a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the law regarding the right to protest in the UK. Regarding officer’s treatment of attendees, the report states that on several occasions, the police’s use of force “was not proportionate”. It concludes that the Met “did not take proper account of the right to protest, including the obligation to facilitate peaceful and safe protest”.

    ‘Excessive’ and ‘disproportionate’ policing

    The APPG report also condemns Avon & Somerset Police’s handling of Kill the Bill protests in Bristol. Following the Metropolitan Police’s heavy-handed response to the vigil on Clapham Common, people came together to protest the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The bill includes plans to clamp down on the right to protest, and to increase police powers. Echoing what witnesses told The Canary in March, the APPG report explains that events in Bristol “escalated after police undertook enforcement action against peaceful sit-down protests”.

    The report confirms that Avon & Somerset Police “failed to distinguish between violent and peaceful protestors, leading to the use of force in unjustified situations”. The APPG highlights concerns about officers’ “disproportionate” and “excessive” use of force against peaceful protesters in Bristol, including the use of dogs, batons and riot shields. It adds that witnesses described the force’s crackdown on protesters following Bristol’s first Kill the Bill protest as “revenge policing”. Evidence includes the cases of Katie McGoran and Grace Hart, who both experienced wrongful detention at the hands of Avon & Somerset Police officers following protests.

    The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) submitted evidence to the inquiry about the policing of protests in Bristol. Responding to the APPG’s findings, a spokesperson told The Canary:

    The conclusions of this report are damning. We have long known that we cannot trust the police to protect our right to protest, and this report documents the utter failure of the police to consider their obligations under law to respect freedom of assembly rights. It even concludes that the enforcement approach taken by the police may have “caused, or at least exacerbated, some of the violence”.

    They added:

    Netpol has been calling for greater transparency from the police around the policing of protest and use of force, and in the absence of any data from the police on these we worked with grassroots groups to submit detailed evidence of the police violence in Bristol. Serious questions need to be asked and officers need to be held to account, as the report concludes that Avon and Somerset police’s use of force was excessive and unjustified, and may even amount to a criminal offence.

    Continued resistance to the bill

    The APPG sets out recommendations regarding the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which returns to Parliament on 5 July. Responding to this, a spokesperson from Netpol told The Canary:

    We wholeheartedly welcome the recommendation of the report to completely remove the sections of the Bill which give the police powers to restrict protests. But this still wouldn’t address the issues with this draconian Bill, as it doesn’t address the measures which criminalise Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, or extend the power of the state to stop, search, surveil and incarcerate vulnerable people.

    Resistance against the proposed draconian bill continues unabated. Thousands of protesters descended on London on 26 June. The Kill the Bill coalition is now urging people to ask their MPs to support amendments to the proposed bill. These include Zarah Sultana’s call for an inquiry into the policing of protests, and Apsana Begum’s amendment seeking to scrap government plans for ‘secure schools‘. In spite of the heavy-handed policing meted out against peaceful protesters in March, Bristol’s 14th Kill the Bill protest is due to take place on 3 July.

    Featured image via Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona/Unsplash

    By Sophia Purdy-Moore

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Woman arrested at Sarah Everard vigil preparing for legal action against the Met

    A woman who was arrested at the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard is preparing to start legal action against the Metropolitan Police. Patsy Stevenson has told Scotland Yard that she intends to start proceedings against the force should it not withdraw the fixed penalty notice she was issued with.

    Stevenson is also asking for an acknowledgment of wrongdoing and an apology. Images of the physics student being handcuffed and held down by two male officers sparked anger at Scotland Yard’s policing of the gathering on March 13.

    The vigil goes ahead

    Hundreds attended the vigil in south-west London to pay their respects to 33-year-old Ms Everard, who was killed after disappearing while walking home.

    Sarah Everard tributes
    People viewing floral tributes left at the bandstand in Clapham Common, London, for Sarah Everard (Victoria Jones/PA)

    The event had originally been organised by Reclaim These Streets, who cancelled it after the Met said it should not go ahead, and no definitive answer on the matter was provided by the High Court. But people turned up throughout the day, and officers did not intervene for the first six hours while many came to lay flowers.

    Ms Stevenson said the vigil was an important space for women to grieve together and she had drawn strength from the number of women who attended. She said:

    I am angry that the police shut down our space to mourn and comfort each other and I feel violated that male officers used physical force to do so.

    I will not be silenced by such actions and I am prepared to robustly challenge the police for their conduct on that day until there has been an acknowledgment and apology for their wrongdoing.

    Rachel Harger, a Bindmans solicitor representing Ms Stevenson, said the Met maintained a position that participation in the event was a criminal act which was “wrong in law… seriously ill-advised and entirely unnecessary”.

    She continued:

    The decision by officers to then move to heavy-handed physical enforcement of the coronavirus regulations in order to arbitrarily arrest Patsy, seemingly just so officers could obtain her personal details to issue her with a Fixed Penalty Notice, showed utter contempt for her rights to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom to assemble and associate.

    At the very least, the Metropolitan Police must provide a full and meaningful apology for this disastrous policing operation and the manhandling of women who had gathered only to express their collective anger and grief.

    Sisters Uncut, a feminist campaign group which attended the vigil, said it is:

    impossible for women to implicitly trust that the police are there to protect us.

    The group added:

    It is the treatment of survivors who have reported rape and domestic violence, the policing of women at this vigil, together with the conduct of undercover police officers which all point to systemic failures and long term institutional sexism.

    Police heavy-handedness?

    By the evening, hundreds of people had gathered and refused to leave when asked by police, leading to clashes that saw protesters bundled to the ground and arrested. The Met faced a barrage of criticism, including calls for Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign.

    An official report from the watchdog, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), backed the Met’s handling of the event and found no evidence of heavy-handedness.

    Ms Stevenson, from Surrey, says she intends to “robustly challenge” the force until there has been an acknowledgement and apology for wrongdoing.

    Clapham Common
    The protest in Clapham Common (Victoria Jones/PA)

    “Excessive force and unnecessary arrests”

    She received a letter dated April 19 telling her that a Met officer had issued her with a fixed penalty notice in the sum of £200 on the basis that she was “present at a large-scale gathering”.

    A pre-action letter, sent to the force by Bindmans LLP, argues that the notice was the consequence of an “unlawful” policing operation where some attendees were subject to “excessive force and unnecessary arrests”.

    The position on vigils or protests was that police were expected to look at each individual event and weigh up the public health risks with the right to protest and freedom of expression involved.

    Freedom of expression

    Ms Stevenson’s lawyers say the policing breached her rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. They argue that exercising these rights would have been a “reasonable excuse” for her to breach coronavirus regulations restricting people from gathering.

    And they note a report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights from March which stated that:

    going on a protest, if conducted in a manner that minimises the risk of spreading Covid-19, could have been and could remain a lawful reason to leave the home during lockdown.

    Cressida Dick
    Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick (Jonathan Brady/PA)

    The Met has been asked to reply by Friday July 2. Scotland Yard was approached for comment.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Met Officers investigated for inappropriately accessing Sarah Everard case files

    Met Police bosses are checking whether all the officers and staff who accessed files relating to Sarah Everard’s death did so legitimately. The force’s internal Directorate of Professional Standards is contacting all employees who looked at the records to check why they viewed the files.

    The force would not say how many officers and staff were being contacted or why the action was being taken, but one officer linked to the investigation is already being examined by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after sharing a highly offensive graphic with colleagues.

    Highly offensive

    The probationary constable in question was a cordon officer in Kent during searches. They have been placed in a non-public facing role while the matter is investigated. According to the Independent:

    the force said its directorate of professional standards was made of aware of the incident after “a number of officers” who received the graphic reported being “concerned by its content”.

    However, the Met has since stated that the graphic, which the officer shared on an undisclosed social media site, did not contain photographs or images of Everard, nor any “material related to the investigation into her death”.

    The Met under scrutiny?

    Marketing executive Everard went missing as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.

    A major police investigation was launched and her body was found a week later in woodland in Kent. Met officer Wayne Couzens is now in custody, accused of her murder.

    Vigils held for Sarah also sparked controversy, after police were accused of aggression and violence towards protesters. Meanwhile, as The Canary previously reported, a police watchdog faced further accusations of ‘rubber-stamping‘ the force’s apparent heavy handedness. Floral tributes for Sarah Everard near the bandstand on Clapham Common

    Floral tributes for Sarah Everard near the bandstand on Clapham Common (Yui Mok/PA)

    Breaching professional standards?

    A Met Police spokeswoman said on Monday:

    Police officers and staff need to have access to computer records as part of their role. Officers and staff are only permitted to view specific records and data when there is a legitimate policing purpose for doing so. Accessing records without such a purpose can amount to a breach of professional standards or, in some cases, a criminal offence.

    Officers from the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards are in the process of contacting those officers and staff who accessed records relating to the investigation into the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard to ensure that each access was for a legitimate policing purpose.

    Once all the responses have been received, a decision will be taken as to whether any further action is required.

    Additional information and images via PA News 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • ‘Kill the Bill’ protests are happening across the country this weekend

    Protests to “Kill the Bill” will be held across the country on 20 and 21 March.

    The bill

    The Tory government’s authoritarian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will not only clamp down on protest but will also target marginalised communities, criminalising the Gypsy and Romany Traveller (GRT) community and introducing more stop and search powers. As the call to action from Cornwall explains:

    The new bill gives the police more power to impose conditions on a protest, including ones they view as too noisy…
    And it’s not just protest. The bill will make trespass an offence, criminalising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. And it introduces new stop and search powers that will increase racial profiling and harassment.

    The Canary warned earlier this week that:

    The Bill will ban protests that block roads around Parliament. It also allows the police to impose conditions on one-person protests. And it will introduce a new offence, punishable by up to ten years in prison, of ‘public nuisance’ for actions that cause “serious distress”, “serious annoyance”, “serious inconvenience”.  Yes, that’s right. If you cause serious annoyance on a protest, you could go to jail for a decade!

    Oh, and then there’s the ten year sentences for damaging a memorial or statue. Yep – you could get a longer sentence for damaging an inanimate object than the average sentence given to rapists.

    The coalition

    As a result, a coalition of groups is coming together to oppose the bill.

    Sisters Uncut have led the charge against the bill and in women’s demonstrations. In a press release, an anonymous member urged supporters to keep up the pressure:

    The last week has shown that protest works. That’s why they want to ban it, and that’s why we’re fighting back. The coalition that is coming together shows just how many people are angry about the brutal reality of policing in this country, and who are determined to roll back this dangerous extension of state power. Saturday night has shown us that the police are drunk on power, and should not be rewarded with more.

    Policing by consent is a story this country likes to tell about itself. The reality is that policing is unaccountable, aggressive and violent. Targets of police repression – working class people, racial minorities, sex workers and many others – have had enough.

    Take action!

    Not all details have been announced yet, but protests against the bill will be held in:

    Liverpool at 4pm, Saturday 20, location to be decided.

    Bristol College Green at 2pm, Sunday 21.

    Piccadilly Circus, Manchester, 16:30 Saturday 20.

    Leeds, Sunday 21, 5pm, location to be decided.

    Cornwall, Truro, Lemon Quay, Saturday 20, 2pm.

    Newcastle, Grey’s Monument, Sunday 21, 14:00.

    London (Deptford), Deptford High Street, Saturday 20, 12.30pm.

    Plymouth, Charles Cross station, Sunday 21, 2pm.

    Brighton, The Level, Saturday 20, 2pm, information here and here.

    Cardiff, Cardiff Central Police Station, Saturday 20, 2pm.

    Birmingham, Victoria Square,  Saturday 20, 2pm.

    Sheffield, time and date to be announced.

    London, New Cross, Telegraph Park Hill, Saturday 20, information here.

    News that the bill has been delayed is welcome and a victory. But the battle is far from over. And everyone still needs to take urgent action to ensure this repressive bill doesn’t become law.

    Featured image via YouTube screengrab/Real Media

     

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • A Woman Is Afraid

    Fear and rage can be an entry point into the rejection of violence against women but not the termination or sum of our collaborations. 

    This post was originally published on Dissent MagazineDissent Magazine.

  • Deploying undercover officers to ‘protect women’ is just making us more outraged

    CONTENT WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS REFERENCES TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND DISTRESSING

    It should possibly come as no surprise that the government is seizing upon the murder of Sarah Everard to roll out more Stasi-like undercover policing, all in the name of protecting women. Boris Johnson has announced that the government is going to send plain-clothes police officers to spy on people in bars and clubs around England and Wales. It’s part of a pilot scheme, Project Vigilant, which was launched by Thames Valley police in 2019, and is now going to be rolled out nationwide. The mainstream media is calling it a “drive to protect women“, and a scheme “to catch sexual predators“.

    Spy cops abuse women. They don’t protect them.

    But we’ve seen time and time again that undercover police abuse their powers, deceive women into relationships, and wreck their lives. More than 30 women have been tricked into relationships with spy cops. The exact figure is likely to be higher, because the government likes protecting the identities of undercover policemen who have infiltrated women’s lives. And they don’t like telling us whether the police are still doing it now.

    This latest announcement about deploying undercover police makes a mockery of the Undercover Policing Inquiry that is currently taking place, which should be investigating the disgraceful actions of undercover officers and their bosses. It’s a kick in the teeth to the women participating in that inquiry whose lives were torn apart by police spies.

    People have taken to Twitter to vent their frustration:

    The police aren’t here to protect women

    A serving Metropolitan police officer has been charged with Sarah’s murder. And the subsequent police violence towards protesters on the streets, showed the world that the police are definitely not here to protect women.

    And Sarah’s murder was just the tip of the iceberg. A document called #194andcounting shows that at least 194 women have been murdered by the police and prison system in England and Wales, either in state custody or in prison, since the 1970s.

    The Canary’s Steve Topple reported on statistics which show that between January 2009 and September 2020 there were:

    • 11 murders [of women] involving serving or ex-police officers. Eight were convicted. Three cases are ongoing. But nine of the 11 victims were police officers’ wives or girlfriends.
    • Over 90 charges of, or convictions for, rape among [employees of the criminal justice system]. The majority were against women and children. Several of the offenders committed multiple crimes. Dozens of these were serving police officers.

    And there are a number of other disgusting misogynist incidents involving police officers. I will list just a couple. On 15 March, the Sun reported that a Metropolitan policeman, who was guarding the spot where Sarah Everard was murdered, sent out a meme “containing six images of a uniformed officer abducting a woman”. In 2020, Metropolitan police officers took selfies of themselves next to the bodies of murdered women Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

    Also in 2020, a police officer from Avon and Somerset was found guilty of gross misconduct for his treatment of a domestic abuse survivor whose ex-partner broke into her house and “punched her head into a wall”. The policeman described the survivor as “anti-men”. The Canary spoke to the woman, who said:

    When you call the police, you expect to be treated with respect. You don’t expect to be treated with prejudice by an officer who clearly has an issue with you as a woman. Misogyny has no place in any police force. Misogyny kills.

    Giving the police more powers to act with impunity

    It’s all too clear to women that the police are institutionally violent towards us. But instead of addressing this, the Tory government is giving them sweeping new powers. The recently passed Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act legalises the criminal activities of undercover officers and agents working for the police, MI5, and other state agencies. The Act doesn’t prohibit murder or torture in the name of undercover work. So, essentially it means spies and their agents will be able to act with impunity.

    Meanwhile, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently being rushed through parliament will give police officers even more powers. Sisters Uncut argues:

    As the actions of police at peaceful vigils this weekend show, police abuse the powers that they already have – and yet the government plans to give them more powers in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

    The death of Sarah Everard must be seen in context of the structures of violence against women in this country, which include the police who brutally manhandled grieving women on Saturday, and the routine failures of the police to investigate rape cases as well as their own record of domestic abuse against women.

    It continues:

    The police are institutionally violent against women. Handing them more powers will increase violence against women.

    We need systemic change

    While the government pretends to care by promising to provide us with undercover cops and better-lit streets, the reality is we need complete systemic change. Women are unsafe, whether they’re walking home or already in their house. In fact, 62% of women murdered between 2019 and 2008 were killed by men who were currently, or had previously been, in an intimate relationship with them. No amount of spy cops or street lighting will protect us from the misogyny and patriarchy within our society, ingrained in boys from an early age.

    We don’t trust the police, or the criminal justice system, to protect us. The number of successful rape convictions is at an all-time low.  The Centre for Women’s Justice’s Harriet Wistrich has argued that rape has virtually been “de-criminalised” because it’s so rare that a man will be convicted of the crime. It’s therefore unsurprising that, according to the Office for National Statistics, “less than one in five victims of rape or assault by penetration reported their experience to the police”.

    We are tired Johnson and Patel’s crocodile tears. We are tired of our behaviour being policed, of being told that we must not walk alone at night, just because we’re women. We are tired of being victim-blamed for being assaulted. Together we must fight for radical change.

    Featured image via a Bristol activist, with permission

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • We need to grieve all women murdered by men. Not just those deemed worthy by the mainstream media.

    Women across the UK continue to grieve the loss of Sarah Everard, murdered while she was walking home. Her alleged attacker is a Metropolitan police officer: a cog in a system that claims to keep women safe, but in reality does very little to protect us.

    While all of us know Sarah’s name, how many know the names of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman? Or of Wenjing Xu? Or Geetika Goyal and Blessing Olusegun? How many news headlines have they taken up? And why aren’t we just as outraged by their murders, also committed by men?

    Sadly, Sarah’s death is a stark reminder that not only do we live in a misogynist society, but that we also live in a white supremacist one. You see, Bibaa, Nicole, Wenjing, Geetika, and Blessing were Women of Colour. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that mainstream media coverage didn’t get to anywhere near the same levels. After all, these news outlets are racially-biased and are essential in upholding a racist society. As I’ve reported before, the experience of the white person has always been the default front page story to cover, while narratives of People of Colour are too often dismissed.

    But it’s not just the media. As white women, we should also reflect on why, if we see a story about a Black woman who was murdered, we are saddened, but we continue to go about our daily lives. But the murder which sparked our nationwide unrest was that of a white woman.

    Please don’t get my intention wrong: I don’t mean to insult Sarah’s memory in any way, or disrespect those grieving for her. Nor do I want to take anything away from the women who have faced police repression while protesting on the streets these last few days. I would like us to collectively reflect upon how, when we say nothing about the murders of Black women, we are complicit in upholding a racist society. I would like us to think about how our white silence is, essentially, life-threatening to Women of Colour.

    Bibaa and Nicole

    Sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman had been celebrating Bibaa’s birthday when they were stabbed to death in a park in Wembley in June 2020. But the news went largely unnoticed by the UK population. Their family even had to search for the women themselves after receiving no immediate help from the Metropolitan Police. Their mother, Mina Smallman, said of the police:

    I knew instantly why they didn’t care.

    She added:

    They didn’t care because they looked at my daughter’s address and thought they knew who she was. A black woman who lives on a council estate.

    Mina was told that when the police did finally come, officers took selfies of themselves with Bibaa and Nicole’s dead bodies. Yes, that’s right: they took selfies. Mina said:

    Those police officers dehumanised our children.

    She also said:

    If ever we needed an example of how toxic it has become, those police officers felt so safe, so untouchable, that they felt they could take photographs of dead black girls and send them on. It speaks volumes of the ethos that runs through the Metropolitan Police.

    There were no nationwide vigils for Bibaa and Nicole. And I can’t help but suspect that if it were white women who had been dehumanised by the police in such a way, there would have been nationwide outcry. Surely it would have made every newspaper’s front page.

    Wenjing Xu and Geetika Goyal

    16-year-old Wenjing Xu was murdered on 5 March, just two days after Sarah went missing. She was stabbed to death near her family’s Chinese takeaway. One man has been arrested for her murder, and for the attempted murder of another man. Wenjing was studying for her GCSEs and was described as a “very gentle soul”.

    29-year-old Geetika was stabbed and then left to die on a street by a man in Leicester on 3 March, on the same day that Sarah disappeared.

    It’s telling of the society we live in that Wenjing and Geetika received next-to-no mainstream media headlines or even mentions on social media, even though they were murdered in the same week as Sarah.

    Bennylyn Burke

    25-year-old Bennylyn Burke, from Kingswood, Bristol, was reported missing from her home, along with her two children, on 1 March. A 50-year-old man has been charged with the murder of both Bennylyn and her two-year-old daughter Jellica, while her other daughter was found alive inside the arrested man’s home. It’s thought that the man murdered Bennylyn using a hammer.

    Blessing Olusegun

    21-year-old Blessing was found dead on a beach in Bexhill on 18 September 2020. No-one has been charged with her murder. Sussex police has treated the case as “unexplained” but not suspicious, with a postmortem stating that she died by drowning. But her family want more answers, and a petition is being circulated, calling for justice for Blessing. Joshua Mellody, who started the petition, argued:

    Her death IS suspicious and we will not let it be left “unexplained”. Something happened that night that left blessing lifeless on the beach. The police need to investigate it. The system needs to do better. #justiceforblessing #blacklivesmatter #justiceforwomen

    The mainstream media is now making comparisons between Sarah and Blessing, as they were both caught on CCTV, walking at night. But it has taken Sarah’s death for many of us to learn about Blessing for the first time.

    Say all of their names

    I’ve mentioned just a fraction of the women who’ve been killed by men within the last year. “At least 31 women have been killed by men” just three months into 2021. And according to Karen Ingala Smith:

    Since 2009, at least 1,691 women and girls aged 14 and over have been killed by men.

    We need to keep the momentum going on the streets, outraged by the death of every single woman, and not just the women singled out by the mainstream media as worthy of us mourning. Someone on Twitter summed this up beautifully:

    So, as we raise our voices, not just against men’s violence, but against police and state violence towards women, we need to be shouting the names of all the women we have lost. Sarah, Geetika, Blessing, Wenjing, Bennylyn, Bibaa, Nicole. The list goes on and on. Let’s grieve all of their deaths with outrage, and let’s make sure that we continue to fight for systemic change.

    Featured image via a Bristol activist, with permission

     

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on The Canary.