Nicola Sturgeon has strongly criticised claims made by a police commissioner who said Sarah Everard should "never have submitted" to the false arrest which led to her death.
The First Minister joined a chorus of voices condemning the remarks by North Yorkshire police, fire and crime commissioner Philip Allott, who said women "need to be streetwise" about when they can and cannot be arrested.
Mr Allott's comments were made after Police came under fire for suggesting women should flag down a bus if they have concerns when stopped by an officer in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder.
These comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it. For change to happen, this needs to be accepted by everyone. https://t.co/8oC2c5U9Pj
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2021
READ MORE: Wayne Couzens given whole life order for murder
Ms Sturgeon posted on social media, saying: "These comments are appalling. It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change.
"The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it.
"For change to happen, this needs to be accepted by everyone."
Firearms officer Couzens is serving a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of marketing executive Ms Everard, meaning he will never be freed from jail.
It emerged at his trial that he coerced the 33-year-old into putting on handcuffs and getting into his car on the pretext that he was arresting her for breaching Covid regulations.
Speaking to BBC Radio York on Friday, Mr Allott said: “So women, first of all, need to be streetwise about when they can be arrested and when they can’t be arrested.
“She should never have been arrested and submitted to that.”
Lucy Arnold, from campaign group Reclaim The Streets, branded his statement “horrifically offensive”.
Sarah Everard
READ MORE: Wayne Couzens made ‘false arrest’ before murder, court told
Mr Allott has since issued an apology for his remarks.
He said on Twitter: “I would like to wholeheartedly apologise for my comments on BBC Radio York earlier today, which I realise have been insensitive and wish to retract them in full.”
In a now-deleted tweet, he also said: “Nobody is blaming the victim.
“What I am saying is that we need to inform women far better of their rights, something I intend to action here in North Yorkshire ASAP.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel