The High Court of Justice in London found Friday that the Metropolitan police breached organizers’ rights to protest in the way the police handled a planned vigil for Sarah Everand in 2021.

Sarah Everand was a girl who was murdered in Clapham Common by police officer Wayne Couzens. Reclaim the Streets (RTS) held a vigil for Everand in March 2021, which also acted as a protest about violence against women. However, it was discovered that the police had threatened the group with fines of up to £10,000  and possible prosecution if the vigil happened.

RTC brought legal action against the Metropolitan police over how they handled the event, claiming that restricting the vigil was a breach of their human right to protest. In response to the Everand case, the UK’s Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced that five police officers would face misconduct proceedings following investigations into social media messaging.

In a two-day hearing, RTC accused the police of not assessing the risk to public health. The High Court of Justice agreed, ruling in favor of RTC. Lord Justice Warby found that there was a failure of duty by the police in assessing whether the RTC had a “reasonable excuse” for holding the vigil. Despite the police’s justification that they were meeting COVID-19 regulations for group meetings at the time, the court found that this provided a “chilling effect” on RTC’s rights.

The final decision was praised by supporters of the vigil. In a press statement by RTC, the organization said the ruling was “victory for women.”