Met Police in dispute with council over Coronation arrests

The Met Police said the arrests were made after it received intelligence people were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession

The Metropolitan Police commissioner says Westminster City Council "couldn't confirm knowledge" of its own Night Stars scheme when volunteers were arrested hours before the Coronation.

It comes after three safety volunteers were arrested by Met officers in Soho at about 02:00 BST on 6 May.

The information was revealed in a letter from Sir Mark Rowley to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Westminster City Council said it disputed the claims.

Sir Mark's letter was written in response to Mr Khan's request for "urgent clarity" over the circumstances surrounding arrests during the Coronation weekend, including those of the volunteers.

At the time, the Met said it had received intelligence that people were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession, and two women aged 37 and 59, and a man aged 47, were arrested for conspiracy to commit a public nuisance.

Among the items officers seized during the arrests were a number of rape alarms, and the man was further arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, the force said.

Volunteers 'owed apology'

In the letter, Sir Mark said a Met inspector contacted a Westminster City Council police liaison worker "at the time of the stops and arrests to ask about the volunteers' organisation", but "the council officer could not confirm knowledge of the organisation".

He went on to tell the mayor no further action would be taken against any of the three arrested people.

The council's chief executive Stuart Love said: "We simply do not recognise the version of events put forward by Commissioner Rowley, but dispute over the detail misses the point.

"These three volunteers were giving up their time to help keep the city's streets safe. They did nothing wrong, should not have been arrested and are owed an apology."

'Bottles of white paint'

The council runs the Night Stars scheme as part of its night safety campaign, and it operates in conjunction with the Met Police and several Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).

According to the council's website, Night Star volunteers "are focused on working with the West End's evening and night-time economy businesses to promote women's safety and reduce violence against women and girls", with teams operating across Soho, China Town, Leicester Square and Piccadilly in central London.

Protesters from climate protest group Just Stop Oil were apprehended by police officers in the crowd during the weekend's events

Other new information released in the letter includes details of arrests of protesters across the weekend, including members of climate protest group Just Stop Oil and anti-monarchy group Republic.

"We found people in possession of possible lock-on devices, and people that appeared to be purporting to be stewards of the event in possession of plastic bottles containing white paint, which we believe were specifically to be used to criminally disrupt the procession and which resulted in arrests for going equipped to commit criminal damage," Sir Mark wrote.

Protesters hold up placards saying "not my king" in Trafalgar Square

The letter also mentioned a specific incident in which six members of Republic were arrested on St Martin's Lane, on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

Sir Mark explained in the letter that officers found "a large number of placards" and "items which at the time they had reasonable grounds to believe could be used as lock on devices", adding "one man was also arrested for possession of a knife/pointed article".

Defending the Met's wider approach to policing the event, Sir Mark said: "We explained in advance that there would be a low tolerance of disruption and zero tolerance of security and safety threats. It is in this extraordinary, almost unprecedented, security context that our officers operated."

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