The Metropolitan Police has agreed to pay £10,000 in damages to Jennifer Edmunds, who was arrested and detained overnight for attending the Sarah Everard vigil in Clapham Common on March 13, 2021. Edmunds had faced charges for breaching Covid restrictions during the event, which were later dropped. She subsequently sued the police force, asserting claims of human rights breaches, false imprisonment, assault, misfeasance in public office, and malicious prosecution.

Edmunds has decided to share the settlement with pro-Palestinian protesters who, she says, have also suffered from police misconduct. The legal resolution, reached on February 5, was announced following a process initiated at the Mayor’s and City of London Court.

The police crackdown on the vigil, meant to mourn and protest the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, had incited significant debate over the Met’s approach. Critics, including Edmunds’ solicitors from Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and her solicitor Erica San, accused the Met of institutional misogyny and called for substantial reform within the force.

Though the Metropolitan Police has resolved Edmunds’ lawsuit with the £10,000 payment, a spokesperson for the force defended the actions of the officers at the vigil as being in good faith and emphasized that the settlement would not alter their stance on the event. The Met expressed a desire to avoid prolonging the legal dispute, reaffirming their dedication to moving on from the controversy without revisiting the matter.