London police unlawfully used COVID rules to bar vigil for murdered woman - court

FILE PHOTO: Police detain Patsy Stevenson as people gather at a memorial site in London's Clapham Common park following the kidnap-murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain, March 13, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

LONDON (Reuters) - London's police acted unlawfully when they used COVID-19 social-distancing rules to force campaigners to cancel an outdoor vigil for a woman who was raped and murdered by a police officer last year, a London court ruled on Friday.

Hundreds of people mostly women, including Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, gathered peacefully in defiance of the ban in a park on Clapham Common, which ended with police using heavy-handed tactics to arrest several women.