A woman pinned down by police and arrested at a vigil for murdered Sarah Everard has demanded Priti Patel resign in the wake of the Met Police scandals that forced out Dame Cressida Dick.
Patsy Stevenson is one of a growing number of campaigners urging the Home Secretary to follow the lead of the Met Commissioner and resign.
Ms Patel has said “strong and decisive new leadership will be required to restore public confidence” in London’s police force following “a series of appalling and sickening incidents” in the past few years.
But activist Patsy, 29, told how the buck for policing should ultimately stop with the Home Secretary.
She said: “Resign, fired, whatever it is – Priti Patel needs to get out of that job. She was in charge, at the top of the top of the chain, when the vigil and other scandals happened – yet she has taken no accountability or responsibility.
“She is running away from a sinking ship that she has put holes in. She worries me massively.”
Patsy’s sentiments were echoed by grieving mum Hawa Haragakiza, whose 15-year-old son Tamim Ian Habimana was one of 30 youngsters struck down in the capital’s worst-ever year for teen killings.
Distraught Hawa, 33, said the capital’s streets were “not safe” to walk.
She added: “Priti Patel should resign straight away. We are losing more and more people to knife crime all the time.
“Her being in charge doesn’t give me hope – it’s partly why I have no faith in the system.”
The comments come after Dame Cressida said she had been left with no choice but to resign after London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, made it clear to her he had no confidence in her leadership.
Last week a damning report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct told of “disgraceful” examples of bullying and sexual harassment at Charing Cross police station in central London.
The force has also faced criticism over its handling of the vigil for marketing exec Sarah, 33, who was murdered by serving officer Wayne Couzens.
Dame Cressida acknowledged that these scandals and others had “damaged confidence” in her force.
But she said it had “turned its full attention to rebuilding public trust and confidence”.
Patsy – who was held down, arrested and fined £200 at the vigil last March – said it had taken “way too long” for Dame Cressida to go.
Her statement had added insult to injury, she said, adding: “I was angry there was no apology.
“I thought of families who have had to deal with relatives dying in police custody, of the murder of Sarah by a police officer under her reign.
“It’s a tough job but she didn’t hold the force accountable – she made out Wayne Couzens was just a bad apple.”
“I am relieved she is going, but radical change is still needed as there is no trust in the police at the moment.”
Anti-knife campaigners were also enraged by Dame Cressida’s resignation statement, after she claimed: “[The Met is] achieving remarkable results in key areas of violence, with thousands of fewer victims of knife crime, robbery and other attacks.”
That was branded an “insult” by Hawa, whose son was stabbed on his way home from school in Woolwich, South East London. Five people are charged with his murder.
Hawa said: “Her words were very disrespectful to people like us who know how it feels to lose a child to knife crime, to all these young people who have been killed for no reason. She failed kids every day.
“The streets of London are not safe. A man was stabbed five minutes away from my home the other week – I refuse to let my sons go out on their own and that’s wrong.
“I don’t have faith in the police or system. I’m dealing with Tamim’s young siblings who are asking questions I don’t know how to answer.”
She added “Tamim was a leader, funny and a very good friend – he would be doing GCSEs this year.
“It makes me heartbroken. I know it’s not easy, it’s not just down to police – it’s down to parents, teachers and communities too. But the power is at least partly in their hands. I feel sad, begging for peace and safety.”
The chief executive of anti-knife charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said it was “impossible to agree” with Dame Cressida’s assessment of her force’s success “while we continue to lose young, precious lives”.
Patrick Green told the Sunday Mirror: “When [Commissioner Cressida Dick] took office in 2017 there were 13,737 knife crime offences recorded in London.
“The latest ONS figures show that – as of September 2021 – this figure had fallen to 10,506. But sadly, that is only part of the picture – during the same period teenage murders rose to their highest level on record.
“It is clear that while knife crime has fallen, knife attacks have become more ferocious and more deadly.”
The Home Office and Met Police were both asked to comment.
