Police boss who said Sarah Everard should have ‘resisted arrest’ resigns

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy North Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner has resigned after saying women such as Sarah Everard should have been more “streetwise”. In an open letter, the former commissioner said he had been trying to “rebuild trust and confidence in my work as York and North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner” following the comments he made in an interview with Radio York. “That is why I am doing the honourable thing and resigning as police, fire and crime commissioner – to restore confidence in the office which I believe will be almost impossible for me to do, and to enable victims’ voices to be heard clearly without the distraction of the continued furore which surrounds me,” Mr Allott said. He had been accused of victim blaming after he said in a radio interview that women should be more “streetwise” about powers of arrest and that Ms Everard, whose family live in York, should not have “submitted” to arrest by Mr Couzens, a serving police officer.