Two women who were arrested for attending a vigil for Sarah Everard have won “substantial damages” in their legal action against the Metropolitan police. Under the Human Rights Act, Dania Al-Obeid and Patsy Stevenson launched a case against the Met last year after prosecutors prevented attempts by the police to bring prosecutions against them and four others. And today, the Met has backed down from its position and settled with all the women involved in the case, which involved an apology letter.

On the settlements, Stevenson told The Guardian: “Every step has been a huge hurdle, so I appreciate what they’ve said, but […] even if you go through a [legal battle], they still won’t hold themselves accountable for what they’ve done. But this is a very big win for us, and for everyone who attended the vigil.”

The image of Stevenson being held down on the ground by police officers as she was arrested was widely circulated online and was associated with the widespread criticism and anger at how the police treated protestors at the vigil.

She also shared more details about what happened the night of the vigil on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme and explained that even though the inquiry into the vigil said the police acted proportionally, she’s interested to see if there will be an investigation into the transcripts from the vigil and whether these will be released to the public. “I’ve seen what they’ve [officers] said and I didn’t see anything to do with Covid,” Stevenson told the programme.

When asked whether the apology letter means the Met is learning from what happened on that night, Stevenson was quick to answer “no”, saying: “It will always be lip service.”

Al-Obeid called the police’s apology “empowering” but highlighted that victims of abuse needed support that simply couldn’t be provided by the police. “The police are not the right organisation to be on the frontline for victims of violence. They just end up re-traumatising them… I will continue speaking out about the abuse that goes on in police forces and their lack of support for victims of abuse,” she said.

Al-Obeid and Stevenson were arrested at the vigil on 13 March 2021 and later convicted, along with several other women, for breaching coronavirus restrictions. Al-Obeid was initially ordered to pay a £220 fine, £100 in court costs and a £34 victim surcharge by a magistrate at Westminster magistrates’ court. Al-Obeid was also due to face a full trial in 2022, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) halted proceedings and notified lawyers that it was not in the public interest.

A spokesperson for the Met said of the case: “A protracted legal dispute is not in the interests of any party, least of all the complainants who we recognise have already experienced significant distress as a result of this incident. The most appropriate decision, to minimise the ongoing impact on all involved, was to reach an agreed settlement.”

Stevenson and Al-Obeid were part of thousands of women who attended the vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham last year after she was kidnapped and murdered in March 2021.

The vigil was planned by Reclaim These Streets, an organisation aiming to make the streets safe for women, but after they pulled out of the planning, the direct action group Sisters Uncut kept up the momentum.

Image: Getty