A FORMER candidate in the race to be North Yorkshire's police, fire and crime commissioner has called for Philip Allott to resign.

Alison Hume, Labour’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner candidate in May 2021, condemned Mr Allott's comments on the Sarah Everard case as "grotesque".

Ms Hume's voice is part of a growing campaign against the police boss - with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer simply saying: "He should go."

Philip Allott - the current police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) for North Yorkshire -  told BBC Radio York on Friday that women need to be "streetwise".

Referring to the coronavirus laws her murderer Wayne Couzens used to falsely arrest Sarah Everard, Conservative Philip Allott said: “So women, first of all, need to be streetwise about when they can be arrested and when they can’t be arrested. She should never have been arrested and submitted to that.

“Perhaps women need to consider in terms of the legal process, to just learn a bit about that legal process.”

In a statement, the Labour candidate urged Mr Allott to step down with immediate effect - describing his apology as "hurried" and "simply not enough".

Ms Hume said: “The victim blaming comments made by Philip Allott about Sarah Everard and women generally are both shocking and offensive.

“His cruel observation that Sarah should not have “submitted” to the arrest by a police officer made the hairs stand up on my neck. Who wouldn’t have done what they were told when shown a valid warrant card by a serving police officer? Sarah Everard did what any law abiding citizen would have done. It is beyond belief that Mr Allott would suggest anything to the contrary.

"No-one who read the heart rending victim impact statement by Sarah Everard’s mother when she describes shouting out at the same time of the evening when her precious daughter was abducted, “Don’t get in the car Sarah!”, will ever forget it, and certainly no-one will ever forget Sarah Everard. The fact that Sarah came from the area Mr Allott was elected to represent make his comments even more grotesque."

"Women have lost faith in the police. The vast majority of survivors of sexual violence and assault never report to police, and it’s not hard to understand why. The charge rate for domestic abuse related crime in North Yorkshire in 2019-20 was just 4 per cent, compared to 9 per cent in England and Wales as a whole.

"Mr Allott already had a huge job on his hands when he was elected, and it is clear from today that he simply isn’t up to it. Violence against women and girls is at epidemic proportions in York and North Yorkshire. How can Mr Allott hold the police force to account on our behalf with views which suggest women are somehow responsible for what happens to us at the hands of violent men? His hurried apology is simply not enough. I call on Philip Allott to resign with immediate effect."