Woman charged for attending Sarah Everard vigil launches legal action against the Met police

Dania Al Obeid was arrested for attending the vigil and is now launching civil proceedings against the Met to pursue claims for breaches of her rights under the Human Rights Act.

A woman who was arrested and convicted for attending a vigil for Sarah Everard is launching legal action against the Metropolitan police.

Dania Al-Obeid was arrested at the vigil on 13 March 2021 and later convicted along with five other women for breaching coronavirus restrictions. She was initially ordered to pay a £220 fine, £100 in court costs and a £34 victim surcharge by a magistrate at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Al-Obeid was also due to face a full trial later this year, but The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has halted proceedings and notified lawyers that it is not in the public interest.

According to The Guardian, Al-Obeid’s lawyers notified the Met on Tuesday of her plans to pursue claims for breaches of her rights under the Human Rights Act.

“To be convicted behind closed doors for standing up for my human rights, and our rights just to be safe from violence, felt extremely unjust,” Al-Obeid told The Guardian.

“At the time, I didn’t feel like I could fight it, I felt like shrinking and taking up less space. I started to blame myself for ever speaking up. It brought back some of the terrible experiences in my past, and took me to a dark place, where I didn’t think my voice mattered, or that I even had a right to speak.”

She added: “However, I’m extremely lucky to have a legal team of amazing women who told me my rights and said what was happening was unlawful. That’s why I eventually got the strength to push back.

“I am now, therefore, taking steps to bring a civil claim alongside other women seeking to hold the police accountable for their actions, both at the vigil and since.”

Rachel Harger, a solicitor at Bindmans LLP representing Al-Obeid, said: “The Metropolitan Police’s efforts to double down on their attempts to legitimise their policing operation and conduct in and around the Clapham Common vigil is entirely unsurprising, but the fact that they have continued to do so under immense public scrutiny and criticism further illustrates that this is a police force that believes it should be able to act with impunity.”

Al-Obeid was one of thousands of women who attended the vigil for Sarah Everard in Clapham last year after she was kidnapped and murdered in March 2021.

The vigil was planned by Reclaim These Streets, an organisation aiming to make the streets safe for women.

The Metropolitan police have been approached for comment.

Image: Getty

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