Sarah Everard: Sussex Police jeered as park vigil in Brighton halted

Dozens of people stopped to pay their respects at the city park

One man was arrested and eight people were fined at a vigil in Brighton to mourn Sarah Everard, police have said.

About 200 people gathered at Valley Gardens in Brighton on Saturday evening to pay tribute to the 33-year-old.

But as the situation deteriorated on Clapham Common in London, officers in Brighton also struggled to disperse the gathering, with some sections of the crowd shouting "shame on you".

Sussex Police said it took "necessary and proportionate enforcement action".

An official vigil, organised by the Women's Equality Party in Brighton had been called off earlier in the day due to coronavirus restrictions.

But from 18:00 GMT people began arriving to pay their respects at the city park.

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The BBC's Will Flockton watched as mourners - mainly female but some male - placed placards, flowers and candles around trees.

He said police kept a low profile initially but when they began asking people to leave, some objected and began chanting.

Placards and candles were left in the memory of murdered Durham graduate Sarah Everard

He saw one man being taken away by police as a large crowd booed and chanted "shame on you".

Francesca Thornton from Brighton said that when she got to the vigil it was "calm and peaceful".

She described seeing people "socially-distanced from each other, laying down flowers, laying down candles, reading the signs around trees".

Police watched as people gathered to pay their respects

However, she claimed "tensions really started to rise" as a speaker addressed the crowd and police moved in.

She accused the police of an "unjustified use of force" on one woman in particular and called on the force to apologise.

"They should drop the fines, de-arrest the person they arrested and allow us to have these moments of mourning," she said.

Sussex Police said it took "necessary and proportionate enforcement action" that was "consistent with our policing approach throughout the pandemic".

An 18-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of failing to comply with a direction in order to control coronavirus, it said.

Placards were left in tribute to Sarah Everard

Eight Fixed Penalty Notices were issued to people for "breaches of the government's coronavirus regulations".

The force added: "We recognise the desire to come together at this time, to mourn the death of Sarah Everard in London and to make a statement on the issue of women's safety, and we absolutely understand the importance of this message.

"However, we remain firmly in a public health emergency and the Covid-19 regulations continue to disallow large gatherings because of the continued, and very real risks of the virus.

"A High Court judgement on Friday ruled planned vigils would not be an exception to the government's legislation around gatherings during the national lockdown."

'Heartbroken by the tragedy'

In a statement, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said she had spoken to Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner to "better understand the policing" of the gathering.

She said she was reassured to learn that "the majority of people present adhered to the rules that have helped drive Covid levels down".

She said the entire country had been "heartbroken by the tragedy" of Sarah Everard's death but "our concern and outrage will not protect us from Covid".

"Let us now allow the family of Sarah to mourn their loss, let us express our own sorrow and anger proportionately and let justice take its course," she added.