The woman who was photographed being held down by police after she attended a vigil for Sarah Everard says she was left feeling 'terrified'.
Patsy Stevenson says she went to the vigil at Clapham Common on Saturday (13 March) to lay a candle and pay her respects to Sarah Everard, but was pinned to the ground by two 'very large male officers'.
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Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard on Good Morning Britain today, Stevenson said: "I was terrified. I have never been so scared honestly.
"I think what was scary as well was as soon as I was pinned to the ground, I looked up and there were cameras everywhere. I was like, 'oh my God, this is big'.
"I didn't realise they had even pinned me to the ground for a second. It just like happened so fast and then I was on the ground. I was like, I am on the ground, I am very small. I wasn't resisting or anything."
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Stevenson told the hosts that the vigil 'wasn't massively packed' and accused police of 'aggressively talking to the women'.
However, she went on to stress that she is not anti-police, adding: "I fully understand that police have to do their job. Do you know what I mean?
"I am not against police... but you know the organisers were trying to get it so that the police were involved in a safe way and make sure everyone was maintaining social distance.
"All we wanted was that women were able to mourn and share each other's company in a safe space and it wasn't allowed to go ahead. I think people were angry with that.
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"When it came out that we weren't allowed to, a lot of people were like, 'We are going because we are going to make it safe.' We did intend for a safe vigil."
Stevenson said she was released quickly following her arrest and ordered to pay a £200 fine.
She said: "I appreciate a lot of people have said they will pay for [the fine], I appreciate that fully but I put myself in that position and that comes down to me."
The police handling of the Clapham Common vigil has been heavily criticised, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling for a 'full, independent' investigation into the events.
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Posting on Twitter, Khan said he was 'not satisfied' with Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick's explanation in to police action during the vigil.
In a statement, he said: "I asked the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner to come into City Hall today to give me an explanation of yesterday's events and the days leading up to them.
"I am not satisfied with the explanation they have provided.
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"I will now be asking Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary [HMIC] to conduct a full independent investigation of events yesterday evening and in previous days. I am also asking the Independent Office for Police Conduct [IOPC] to investigate the actions of police officers yesterday evening"
You can watch Good Morning Britain weekdays on ITV from 6am and catch up on ITV Hub.
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