Manchester man denies breaking lockdown rules over Sarah Everard vigil as court tosses out prior conviction

A Gorton man has pleaded not guilty to appearing at a vigil for Sarah Everard during lockdown after a court tossed out his earlier conviction. Kevin Godin-Prior, 68, is accused of participating in a gathering of more than two people in a public outdoor place in a Tier 4 area – Clapham Common, south London – on March 13 last year.

Tier 4 Covid-19 restrictions banned household mixing, aside from support bubbles, and two people meeting in public outdoor places. Godin-Prior, of Debdale, Manchester, was convicted in his absence under the Single Justice Procedure – a paper-based process not held in open court – at Westminster magistrates' court on June 1 alongside Dania Al-Obeid, 27, from Stratford, east London, and Ben Wheeler, 21, from Kennington, south London.

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Each was ordered to pay a £220 fine, £100 in court costs and a £34 victim surcharge at the same court a week later. But Godin-Prior appeared at Westminster magistrates' court on Tuesday to make a statutory declaration – a way of appealing against a magistrates' court conviction if it occurred without the defendant's knowledge.

Ben Stuttard, defending, said: "The background of this case is this is a prosecution arising out of the Sarah Everard vigil on Clapham Common. Several people have been prosecuted without knowing it and they have been convicted in absence."

Godin-Prior, who spoke via video-link as he self-isolated at home for Covid reasons, told the court he has experienced 'frequent delays' to his post this year which meant he only received the notice of his prosecution on May 22, two days after the deadline given for him to respond. The 68-year-old said he