Bystander account by Paul Maynard MP
9/12/2022
I attended the Reclaim the Night march as I believe it is important that everyone can enjoy a night out without fear of intimidation and harassment. Because I was coming to join a bit late from another event, I had almost caught up the march where Victoria Street crosses Bank Hey Street. I was around 30 yards behind, and as I reached that crossroads, two young men on my left were jumping up and down shouting “rape, rape”. They were clearly intoxicated – one dressed in a white jumper with some sort of sports logo, the other in black. The march was too far forward to hear this – and presumably why they felt they could do it.