Met Police to appeal against ruling that it breached rights of Sarah Everard vigil planners

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Metropolitan Police will appeal against a High Court ruling that it breached the rights of organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard with its handling of the event, the force has said.

In a ruling on March 11, two senior judges found the Met's decisions in the run-up to the planned event were "not in accordance with the law".Reclaim These Streets (RTS) had planned the socially-distanced vigil for 33-year-old Ms Everard, who was murdered by former Met officer Wayne Couzens, near to where she went missing in Clapham, south London, in March last year.

The force said in a statement on Friday it had "taken time to consider" the decision but that it wanted to "resolve what's required by law when policing protests and events" in future. "Following the High Court judgment issued on Friday, 11 March the Met has taken time to consider with great care the decision itself and the wider implications for policing," the statement read. "It's absolutely right that we are held to account for our actions and that there is proper scrutiny of the decisions we make as a police force in upholding legislation and maintaining public order. "We also respect the strong views held by Reclaim These Streets in defence of human rights and public protest, and their pursuit of justice for these views. "As an organisation we work with, support and police hundreds of protests and events across London every day, and take our responsibilities under the Human Rights Act in doing so, very seriously."It's important for policing and the public that we have absolute clarity of what's expected of us in law."This is why we feel we must seek permission to appeal the judgment in order to resolve what's required by law when policing protests and events in the