Woman, 73, loses her temper with riot police while handcuffed | UK | News
Woman confronts police as she points out: ‘I have a pacemaker’
Police are shown handcuffing a 73-year-old woman as she protests “I have a pacemaker” in a video filmed amid last night’s protests in Westminster.
The video, widely shared on social media, shows the woman surrounded by officers as she protests.
Speaking directly to the camera, she says: “I have a pacemaker and they just arrested me because I came up here.”
She then argues furiously with the officers, and one female officer says to her, “Can you relax?” as she tries to handcuff her.
In the video shared by @RADOCLUB, the woman screams: “I have never been arrested in my life.”
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The woman was arrested during a Stop the Boats protest in Westminster (Image: GETTY/@RADOCLUB)
Referring to the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport on Monday, she added: “I’m 73 years old and I’m here because of these babies that died and I’m being arrested.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will meet senior police officers in Downing Street today after a second night of disorder and unrest in parts of England.
The Downing Street meeting on Thursday afternoon comes after scenes of violent unrest in London, Hartlepool and Manchester overnight, while a protest in Aldershot saw a tense clash with riot police.
In London, 111 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall threw beer cans and glass bottles at police.
Protesters carrying British flags and waving banners reading “enough” and “stop the boats” gathered outside Downing Street following the triple murder, which social media posts falsely claimed was carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker who crossed the Channel in a small boat.
Police officers with people taking part in the ‘Enough is Enough’ protest in Westminster (Image: PA)
In London, protesters chanted: “We want our country back” and “Oh Tommy Robinson,” in reference to the far-right activist. One man wore a T-shirt with the slogan: “Nigel Farage for Prime Minister, Tommy Robinson for Home Secretary.”
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “Last night our officers were confronted with unacceptable scenes of disorder and violence, as have others across the country in recent days. They acted with great courage and the highest level of professionalism in the face of hateful behaviour.”
“Our thoughts are with the victims and families of those affected by Southport’s most horrific attack. It is shameful that some have sought to exploit this tragedy to justify their own violence and criminality.”
He added: “There is absolutely no place for this on our streets. We will ensure that anyone involved in violent disorder or criminal behaviour is arrested and brought to justice.”
Clashes continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where protesters set fire to a police car and pelted officers with projectiles, including glass bottles.
Tempers flare at ‘Enough is Enough’ protest in London (Image: PA)
Cleveland police have made eight arrests so far, with more expected.
Manchester police confronted another protest outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters began throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
According to the Manchester Evening News, during the incident slogans such as “We want our country back” were also chanted, while a group of men were seen throwing themselves into the path of a bus, smashing its wing mirror and assaulting a passenger.
Aldershot appears to have escaped the violence seen in other parts of the country, but a protest there was still broken up by riot police.
The series of violent incidents follows similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where protesters attacked police and set cars on fire.
Police car set alight during disturbances in Hartlepool (Image: PA)
On Thursday afternoon, Sir Keir Starmer will meet senior police officers to express his full support for their efforts to tackle the violence.
He is expected to praise their “courage” in handling the Southport incident and its aftermath, and encourage them to use their powers to “put an end to senseless violence”.
Lord Walney, the government’s independent adviser on political violence: “There is a right to protest in the UK, but it is not a right to riot.”
The meeting comes as a 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of the three girls, and the youth was remanded in custody at Liverpool Crown Court today.
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, were fatally stabbed on Monday when a knifeman entered a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside.
Eight other children were stabbed – five of them in critical condition – while two adults were also seriously injured.
