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06th Oct 2021

Sarah Everard protester “terrified” after ’50 police officers’ contact her on Tinder

Ellen Fitzpatrick

She also received death threats.

After a picture of her being arrested at the Sarah Everard vigil went viral, Patsy Stevenson has revealed “about 50” police officers have contacted her through Tinder.

Leaving her “terrified”, Patsy said that the officers approached her on the dating app after she had been arrested at the vigil on March 13 of this year.

Claiming that they knew she was “fearful of police” and they had done it “for a reason.”

The Met Police has said that its officers “must abide by our high standards of professional behaviour, both on and off duty.”

 

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A post shared by Patsy Stevenson (@quarkylepton)

With hundreds attending the vigil in south London in the aftermath of Sarah’s death, the event had been cancelled as the police said it would be illegal if it went ahead due to lockdown restrictions at the time.

Arrested and given a £200 fine, Patsy told BBC that she was handcuffed by two officers and has since launched legal action over her arrest.

Since it happened, she said there has been an influx of officers contacting her, and she knows they are officers due to either being in uniform on their profile or writing it in their bio.

She said: “I do not understand why someone would do that.

“It is almost like an intimidation thing, saying ‘look we can see you’, and that, to me, is terrifying.

“They know what I went through and they know that I’m fearful of police and they’ve done that for a reason.”

Adding that she has since received countless death threats, she said many have involved threats to kidnap her and she now lives in fear when she’s out, or simply sees someone looking at her in public.

While she has reported the threats to police and says she is not “anti-police”, Patsy said she hasn’t reported the officers on Tinder as she wants police to take accountability for their actions.