Met Police officer ‘ignored’ woman allegedly flashed after Sarah Everard vigil

Woman claims officer told her police had had ‘enough of the rioters tonight’

The Metropolitan police has said it will look into claims that a woman who was allegedly flashed on the way back from a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard had her report of the incident disregarded by officers on the street.

Georgina, who lives in south London, told BBC News she was walking home from the event on Clapham Common at around 8pm on Saturday when she was allegedly accosted by a "clearly quite incoherent" man who exposed his genitals to her.

After the incident she said she approached a group of police officers - and that while a female officer had said she was “ready” to follow up the complaint, she was allegedly overruled by a male officer, who told her "no, I'm not dealing with this" because police had had "enough of the rioters tonight".

Georgina says she filed a complaint when she got home and was subsequently visited by two female officers who took her statement.

The Met confirmed it had received a report of indecent exposure and said the behaviour of the officer who allegedly ignored Georgia "will be looked at". Read more:

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• Met officer taken off Sarah Everard duties over ‘inappropriate graphic’
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Georgina's claim came as the Met Police faced intense criticism over its handling of the vigil in memory of Ms Everard, 33, who was allegedly abducted and murdered as she walked home from a friend's house in Clapham on 3 March. PC Wayne Couzens, a member of the capital’s police force, has been charged in relation to the incident.

Footage showed police officers forcibly removing women from a bandstand in the park, while other officers could also be seen pushing back demonstrators at the event. There were a number of arrests.

Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick has faced calls to resign over the clashes but was backed by prime minister Boris Johnson, who says he has "full confidence" in the force’s top officer.

Appearing on BBC News on Monday, Georgina said it wasn't the first time she had experienced harassment in Clapham Common, adding the alleged behaviour of the male officer made her feel unsafe and was "quite frankly shocking".

She said: "There was a group of about five or six police and I went up to them and told them what had happened and a female police officer said, 'alright let's go'.

But there was a male officer "who said, 'no I'm not dealing with this, I've had enough with the rioters tonight, I'm not dealing with this.'"

Georgina added: "He started to gather his colleagues into the van. At that point I said, 'really? This is why we are saying something, this is ridiculous, but he didn't respond and just took his colleagues into the van and shut the door and just waited for me to leave."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police received a report of indecent exposure that occurred in the vicinity of Clapham Common at approximately 20.00 hours on Saturday 13 of March.

“The complainant, a woman, reported that a man had exposed himself.

“An appointment has been made with the woman to progress this.

“We are aware of a report that she tried to report the incident at the time to officers in the area – this will be looked at."