British authorities have quashed plans to prosecute protesters who attended a vigil for a murdered woman during the country's pandemic lockdown.

A British police chief has resigned after sparking an outcry with comments he made about how women should be more “streetwise” when he spoke about the abduction, rape and murder of a woman by a police officer.

Police in Britain’s capital are desperately trying to regain the trust of women after revelations about how a serving officer used his position to abduct, rape and murder a young woman, taking the unprecedented step of advising women and girls how to protect themselves during interactions with police.

A serving London police officer has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a woman he tricked into his car using his police identification and COVID-19 laws.

A prosecutor has argued that a serving London police officer handcuffed a woman on the pretext of breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules before he kidnapped and killed her.

A British police officer has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman who was abducted as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London.

FILE - In this file photo dated Saturday, March 20, 2021, floral tributes and messages surround the bandstand on Clapham Common in London after the nearby disappearance of Sarah Everard. A U.K. police watchdog said Tuesday March 30, 2021, that officers did not behave in a heavy-handed manner when they broke up a vigil for Sarah Everard, who disappeared while walking home in London and was later found murdered. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, FILE)LONDON – A U.K. police watchdog said Tuesday that officers didn't behave “in a heavy-handed manner” when they broke up a vigil for a London woman whose killing sparked an outcry about women's safety. Her body was later found hidden in woodland more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) away. Images of police officers tussling with women at the peaceful rally, and leading some away in handcuffs, drew strong criticism.

Protesters sit in front of police officers during the "Kill The Bill" protest in Bristol, England, Friday, March 26, 2021. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)LONDON – Police in the English city of Bristol say they arrested 10 people during a third night of protest against a new policing law. The Avon and Somerset Police force said Saturday that eggs, bottles and bricks were thrown at officers and a police horse was daubed with paint. AdBut some have accused the force of a heavy-handed response and of exaggerating the scale of injuries to officers. Tensions rose when police broke up a vigil in Everard’s memory because it violated coronavirus restrictions barring mass gatherings.

Floral tributes and candles placed at the bandstand on Clapham Common, London, Monday March 15, 2021. On Saturday hundreds of people disregarded a judge's ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honor of Sarah Everard. Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend's apartment and was found dead a week later. The slaying sent shockwaves across the U.K. because a Metropolitan Police officer is charged with her kidnapping and murder. The plans follow the murder of a young woman who was abducted on the streets of London earlier this month.

But the vigil ended with clashes between police and those attending, and many questioned whether the police force was too heavy-handed. Home Secretary Priti Patel said scenes from the vigil in south London were “upsetting." AdPolice were seen scuffling with some women at the event, and one woman was seen pinned to the ground by two officers. Everard, a marketing executive, was last seen walking home from a friend’s apartment in south London at about 10:30 p.m. on March 3. Her body was found hidden in an area of woodland in Kent, more than 50 miles southeast of London, on Wednesday.

People gather, at the band stand in Clapham Common, in memory of Sarah Everard, after an official vigil was cancelled, in London, Saturday, March 13, 2021. A serving British police officer accused of the kidnap and murder of a woman in London has appeared in court for the first time. Wayne Couzens, 48, is charged with kidnapping and killing 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who went missing while walking home from a friends apartment in south London on March 3. Hundreds of people disregarded a judge's ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honor of Sarah Everard, 33, who last was seen alive near the south London park on March 3. Demonstrators said they wanted to draw attention to the fear and danger many women see as a daily part of British life.

A missing sign outside Poynders Court on the A205 in Clapham, London Wednesday March 10, 2021 during the continuing search for Sarah Everard who has been missing for a week. The 33-year-old disappeared on Wednesday March 3 after leaving a friend's house in Clapham, south London, and began walking to her home in Brixton. The Met Police have said that a serving diplomatic protection officer is being held over the disappearance of Sarah Everard. The fate of Sarah Everard is all the more shocking because the suspect charged Friday with abducting and killing her is a U.K. police officer whose job was protecting politicians and diplomats. London police arrested a member of the force's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command on Tuesday as a suspect in the case.

A forensic officer outside a house where detectives are investigating the case of missing woman Sarah Everard, in Deal, southern England, Wednesday March 10, 2021. Police have arrested a serving police officer in connection with the missing woman, Everard who went missing last Wednesday while walking home in south London. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP)LONDON – Britain's Metropolitan Police said they arrested a police officer on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in connection with a woman who went missing in London last week. The force said Wednesday the fact that the man was a serving officer was “shocking and deeply disturbing,” but sought to reassure Londoners that abductions from the city's streets remain rare. The force said he was arrested along with a woman in her 30s, who was held on suspicion of assisting an offender.