London police apologise and pay compensation to women held at vigil

Marketing executive Everard was abducted off a street in London as she walked home in March 2021 and her body was found in a woodland about 50 miles (80 km) away some days later.

News of her killing and the disclosure a serving officer, Wayne Couzens, had been arrested led to anger and protests, and hundreds of people, mainly women, attended a vigil at Clapham Common in southwest London three days after Everard's body was found, and close to where she was last seen.

The women, Dania Al-Obeid and Patsy Stevenson, were among those who were held by officers and then taken away in handcuffs after police said the gathering was in breach of COVID-19 lockdown rules and the crowd had refused orders to disperse.

Photographs of Stevenson being restrained and pinned down by officers were beamed around the world and became the enduring image of the incident, leading to widespread criticism of heavy-handed policing.