The Met Police were “legally mistaken” to tell a group of activists they could not organise a vigil for Sarah Everard, the High Court has ruled.
Reclaim these Streets withdrew from organising the vigil on Clapham Common after police told them they faced prosecution and individual fines of £10,000 if it went ahead.
A spontaneous vigil was held on Clapham Common on Saturday March 13 anyway, with police coming under severe criticism for heavy-handed tactics.
The group took the Met to court over its decisions, and today Lord Justice Warby ruled the Met’s actions were “legally mistaken”, “simplistic”, “misinformed”, and “misleading”.
In a statement, Reclaim These Streets said: “We feel vindicated by today’s judgement. This case exposes the Metropolitan Police’s total disregard for women’s human rights to assembly and expression.”
They added: “Today’s judgement conclusively shows that the police were wrong to silence us.”