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Mourners including the Duchess of Cambridge visited a memorial for London murder victim Sarah Everard on Saturday as police warned that vigils to pay tribute and to protest about violence against women would breach COVID-19 restrictions.
Police told organizers of events planned in London and around the country to pay tribute to Everard that public gatherings would be in breach of COVID-19 restrictions and could lead to fines up to 10,000 pounds ($17,400 Cdn).
Organizers at Reclaim These Streets said they had cancelled a vigil on Clapham Common in south London near where Everard, 33, was last seen. Numerous other planned vigils around the country also followed suit and cancelled.
Even so, people still went to Clapham Common to leave flowers, letters and drawings at a memorial to Everard, standing in silence with the occasional sound of sobbing as several police officers looked on.
Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, was filmed among those who visited a bandstand where tributes were left.
The Duchess of Cambridge has paid her respects to Sarah Everard at Clapham Common bandstand <a href=”https://t.co/fOCDsV8SuR”>pic.twitter.com/fOCDsV8SuR</a>
—@SkyTNewton
Everard, a marketing executive, disappeared while walking home from a friend’s house at about 9.30 p.m. on March 3. Her body was later found in woods about 80 kilometres away in southeast England.
Everard’s killing has led many women to share their fears of walking alone and experiences of being harassed or attacked by men in public, with calls for more action to be taken to address violence against women and abuse.
London police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in court on Saturday charged with her kidnap and murder.
WATCH | U.K. police officer charged in kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard:
An officer with London’s Metropolitan Police has now been charged with kidnapping — and killing — a young woman who disappeared last week. British women are voicing their outrage. 2:02
Later on Saturday as night fell, around a thousand people — mostly women — gathered at the site to pay their respects and protest at the lack of security they felt when out alone, with some chanting “shame on you” at police who were present.
Reuters witnesses saw police drag a small number of people away from the gathering on Clapham Common.
Police were not immediately able to confirm the number of arrests.
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