UK drops prosecution of protesters over slain woman’s vigil

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British authorities have quashed plans to prosecute protesters who attended a vigil for a murdered woman during the country’s pandemic lockdown. The Crown Prosecution Service said Sunday that cases against six people over the March 2021 vigil in memory of Sarah Everard had been dropped because “our legal test for a prosecution was not met.”  Everard was abducted, raped and killed as she walked home from a friend’s house in London. Her killer, Wayne Couzens, was a serving Metropolitan Police officer. The killing and the police response ignited criticism of the police force and its attitude toward women’s safety. Allegations of misogyny and bungled investigations have undermined confidence in the police.