Police ‘arrested volunteers handing out rape alarms’ over coronation disruption concerns
Police have been criticised after reports that volunteers helping to keep women safe were arrested in the early hours of coronation day.
The Metropolitan Police said that at around 2am on Saturday, three people were arrested in the Soho area of central London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.
Among the items seized were a number of rape alarms, with the Met saying it had “received intelligence that indicated groups and individuals seeking to disrupt today’s coronation proceedings were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession”.
They added: “There was particular concern from military colleagues that this would scare their horses involved in the procession and, as a result, cause significant risk to the safety of the public and the riders.”
Earlier, the Met had tweeted that the intelligence had “indicated that people were planning to throw rape alarms” to disrupt the procession.
But the three people arrested were reportedly volunteers with the Night Stars programme, which is run by Westminster City Council.
The rape alarms are handed out by the volunteers as part of their efforts to “promote women’s safety and reduce violence against women and girls”, according to the council’s website.
Councillor Aicha Less, cabinet member for communities and public protection at Westminster City Council, said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of our Night Stars volunteers being arrested overnight.
“This service has been a familiar and welcome sight in the West End for a long time, and have extensive training, so they can assist the most vulnerable on the streets late at night.
“We are working with the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened, and in the meantime, we are in touch with our volunteers to ensure they are receiving the support they need.”
Council leader Adam Hug added: “We are urgently pushing the police for proper answers.
“Our Night Stars do amazing work helping vulnerable people on the streets at night.”
Westminster council’s Night Stars website – the programme is run in partnership with the Met Police.
‘One of them came out of the station in tears’
The three people arrested – a 37-year-old woman, a 59-year-old woman, and a 47-year-old man – were questioned at a south London police station.
The man was also arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, police said, with all three since being released on bail pending further enquiries.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said: “The intelligence we received led us to be extremely worried about the potential risk to public safety.
“We are aware of and understand there is public concern over these arrests. However, the matter is still under investigation.”
Read more:
King and Queen join family on balcony for flypast
Prince Harry and Andrew sit in same row at coronation ceremony
The coronation in pictures
Mic Wright, a journalist who spoke with the three arrested people, wrote on Twitter: “The Met arrested members of the City of Westminster’s Night Safety team.
“They are volunteers.
“They were pulled last night at 2am and have been held for 14 hours.
“One of them came out of the station in tears. Police didn’t apologise.”
Jamie Klinger, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, tweeted: “The police have done nothing to make women safer and now are arresting their own volunteers working to keep women safe.
“Yet another black eye for (Met Police commissioner) Mark Rowley.”
‘The monarch is there to defend our freedoms – now our freedoms are under attack in his name’
Anti-monarchy group Republic also said six of its members, including its chief executive Graham Smith, were arrested early on Saturday.
Mr Smith was held for almost 16 hours, tweeting after his release at about 11.30pm: “Make no mistake: there is no longer a right to peaceful protest in the UK.
“I have been told many times the monarch is there to defend our freedoms.
“Now our freedoms are under attack in his name.”
Anti-monarchy protesters
More than 50 arrests on coronation day
The arrests were among more than 50 on the day of the King’s coronation, with affray, public order breaches, and conspiracy to cause public nuisance among the alleged offences.
Met Commander Karen Findlay said: “Our first priority has been to ensure that the tens of thousands who travelled into London today, and millions more around the world, were able to enjoy a safe, secure and dignified coronation.
“We understand public concern following arrests made this morning. We police proportionately and in the context of the event. This is a once in a generation moment, and that has been a key consideration.”
UK
Urgent letter to home secretary over violence against women and girls strategy – as it omits child abuse
Ten child protection organisations have written an urgent letter to the home secretary expressing concern about the omission of child sexual abuse from the government’s violence against women and girls strategy, following a Sky News report.
Groups including the NSPCC, Barnardo’s and The Children’s Society wrote to Yvette Cooper to say that violence against women and girls (VAWG) and child sexual abuse are “inherently and deeply connected”, suggesting any “serious strategy” to address VAWG needs to focus on child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The letter comes after Sky News revealed an internal Home Office document, titled Our draft definition of VAWG, which said that child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “explicitly within the scope” of their strategy, due to be published in September.
Poppy Eyre when she was four years old
Responding to Sky News’ original report, Poppy Eyre, who was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four, said: “VAWG is – violence against women and girls. If you take child sexual abuse out of it, where are the girls?”
The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which is funded by the Home Office and a signatory to the letter, estimates 500,000 children in England and Wales are sexually abused every year.
The NSPCC “welcome” the government’s pledge to halve VAWG in a decade, but is “worried that if they are going to fulfil this commitment, the strategy absolutely has to include clear deliverable objectives to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation too”, the head of policy, Anna Edmundson, told Sky News.
Poppy is a survivor of child sexual abuse
She warned the government “will miss a golden opportunity” and the needs of thousands of girls will be “overlooked” if child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “at the heart of its flagship strategy”.
The government insists the VAWG programme will include action to tackle child sexual abuse, but says it also wants to create a distinctive plan to “ensure those crimes get the specialist response they demand”.
“My message to the government is that if you’re going to make child sexual abuse a separate thing, we need it now,” Poppy told Sky News.
Read more from Sky News:
Why Donald Trump believes he ‘deserves the Nobel Peace Prize’
Bank holiday temperatures to climb close to 30C before rain arrives
Rape Crisis, which is one of the largest organisations providing support to women in England and Wales, shares these concerns.
It wants plans to tackle child sexual abuse to be part of the strategy, and not to sit outside it.
“If a violence against women and girls strategy doesn’t include sexual violence towards girls, then it runs the risk of being a strategy for addressing some violence towards some females, but not all,” chief executive Ciara Bergman said.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government is “working tirelessly to tackle the appalling crimes of violence against women and girls and child sexual exploitation and abuse, as part of our Safer Streets mission”.
“We are already investing in new programmes and introducing landmark laws to overhaul the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, as well as acting on the recommendations of Baroness Casey’s review into group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse,” they added.
UK
Man and boy arrested on suspicion of arson after restaurant fire leaves two in critical condition
A 54-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after a restaurant fire in east London on Friday.
Three people were taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition after the fire at the Indian Aroma in Ilford.
Two remained in a critical condition on Sunday morning, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The restaurant suffered extensive damage in the blaze.
Two further victims are thought to have left the scene before officers arrived, Scotland Yard said.
Woodford Avenue from above. Pic: UK News and Pictures
Police are still trying to identify them.
CCTV footage seen by the PA news agency appears to show a group of people wearing face coverings walk into the restaurant and pour liquid on the floor.
Seconds later, the inside of the restaurant is engulfed in flames.
“While we have made two arrests, our investigation continues at pace so we can piece together what happened on Friday evening,” said the Met Police’s DCI Mark Rogers.
“I know the community [is] concerned and shocked by this incident.
The moment the fire broke out.
“I would urge anyone with any information or concerns to come forward and speak to police.”
Hospital porter Edward Thawe went to help after hearing screams from his nearby home.
He described the scene as “horrible” and “more than scary and the sort of thing that you don’t want to look at twice.”
He said: “I heard screaming and people saying they had called the police.”
Read more from Sky News:
Pro-Palestine Australians protest after week of tension with Israel
‘I’m deprived of my UK citizenship but I’m not a convicted terrorist’
Ghislaine Maxwell was given ‘platform to rewrite history’
The 43-year-old said he saw a woman and a severely burned man who may have been customers.
Another witness, who did not want to be named, said he saw three “severely burned” people being doused by the emergency services and given oxygen.
“I can only imagine the pain they were going through,” he said.
On Saturday, the London Ambulance Service told Sky News: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.
“We treated five people for burns and smoke inhalation. We took two patients to a major trauma centre and three others to local hospitals.”
The police investigation is continuing.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024