ORGANISERS of a planned vigil for Sarah Everard are bringing a legal challenge against the Metropolitan Police force over its handling of their proposed event.

Reclaim These Streets (RTS) proposed a socially distanced vigil for the 33-year-old former Fulford School student, in March last year.

But the Metropolitan Police told them it would be an illegal gathering under the lockdown rules in places at the time.

The event was due to take place at Clapham Common bandstand, close to where Ms Everard went missing.

RTS was set up after the disappearance of Ms Everard prompted a public outcry about women's safety. 

The four women who founded it withdrew from organising the planned event, which was also intended as a protest about violence against women, and say they faced fines of up to £10,000.

A spontaneous vigil then took place on Clapham Common, for which the force came under criticism over the way it policed it before being cleared by a police watchdog.

Lawyers for RTS are arguing at a two-day hearing that started today at the High Court that the Met's handling of the planned vigil breached the human rights to freedom of speech and assembly, and are asking the High Court to make a declaration to that effect.

The four, whose case is opposed by the force, are also seeking damages for the alleged breach, which will be donated to charity if their case is successful.

RTS took urgent legal action in March last year, asking a High Court judge to make "an interim declaration" that any ban on outdoor gatherings under the coronavirus regulations at the time was "subject to the right to protest".

But the judge declined to grant the group's request and also refused to make a declaration that an alleged force policy of "prohibiting all protests, irrespective of the specific circumstances" was unlawful.

At the urgent hearing in March last year, lawyers for the Met said there was no "blanket ban" on protest as far as the force was concerned, but that the gathering proposed could attract thousands of people and therefore may not be within the rules.

Under the Covid-19 lockdown rules in England at the time of the planned vigil, people were largely required to stay at home and could only gather in groups for limited reasons, such as funerals or for education.

Police could break up illegal gatherings and issue fines of £10,000 to someone holding a gathering of more than 30 people.

There were also in-person vigils planned elsewhere in the country at the time of Ms Everard's disappearance. They moved online after the High Court judge's decision about the London vigil.

Today's case is being heard by Lord Justice Warby and Mr Justice Holroyde.