Sarah Everard murder; Time to reclaim streets as High Court rebukes police over Clapham vigil – The Yorkshire Post says

ONE year after York-born Sarah Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan Police officer as she walked home in London, the heartbreak that her family and friends will suffer for the rest of their lives is matched by the public’s frustration that women’s safety is still not being taken sufficiently seriously by politicians and the police.
By YP Comment
Published 11th Mar 2022, 16:31 BST

Though this case did appear to represent a watershed, and saw the shameful Philip Allott forced out of office as North Yorkshire’s crime commissioner after making misogynistic comments that have no place in contemporary society, this country’s lawmakers still appear to be in denial about the number of women who fear going out alone because of Sarah’s murder and a number of other tragedies.

Sarah Everard vigil organisers hail ‘victory for women’ as court rules Met Police acted unlawfully

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And that the High Court has now ruled that the Metropolitan Police breached the human rights of the Reclaim These Streets group when it tried to stage a socially-distanced vigil for 33-year-old Sarah shows the scale of the challenge still facing Britain’s largest police force – and the country at large.

File photo dated 13/03/21 of people in the crowd turning on their phone torches in Clapham Common, London, for a vigil for Sarah Everard.File photo dated 13/03/21 of people in the crowd turning on their phone torches in Clapham Common, London, for a vigil for Sarah Everard.
File photo dated 13/03/21 of people in the crowd turning on their phone torches in Clapham Common, London, for a vigil for Sarah Everard.

This is a significant judgement – it is a victory for both women and human decency following Sarah’s horrendous ordeal at the hands of a police officer – and the court’s ruling now needs to form the basis of a more enlightened approach to policing. This will be the top priority for Dame Cressida Dick’s successor as Met commissioner.

After all, it is a damning reflection on modern society that women feel unable to walk the streets in safety because those in charge of law and order still do not understand how misogyny left unchallenged leads to tragic outcomes.

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Related topics:Sarah EverardYorkYorkshire PostLondonHigh Court

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