Kirstie Allsopp sparks fury with tweet suggesting Sarah Everard's death 'could not have happened' without coronavirus lockdown
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has come under fire for a tweet in which she appeared to blame Sarah Everard's murder on the coronavirus lockdown.
In a now-deleted tweet, Allsopp said that in any other circumstance the marketing executive's murder "could not have happened", sparking fury from people online.
The Location, Location, Location presenter's tweet came on the day Wayne Couzens was handed a whole life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
Details of the case have prompted concerns on how women will react to male police officers in the future, as well as criticism of the Met Police itself.
Allsopp's tweet came in response to a tweet from Jeremy Vine, in which he admitted to struggling how to advise his own teenage daughters on how to deal with police officers following revelations around Sarah Everard's death, asking: "What do I say to help keep them safe — avoid the police?"
Allsopp responded: "No, you ensure that lockdowns are never, ever imposed again. In any other circumstance this could not have happened."
Read more: Wayne Couzens: The monster that lurked behind the trusted police officer’s family man façade
The tweet was later deleted but screenshots of it were shared online as people reacted angrily to Allsopp's link between the horrific crime and the coronavirus lockdown.
One person wrote: "It's so sad that someone thinks it's okay to hijack such a horrific circumstance to talk such nonsense."
Another said: "Kirstie Allsopp implying Sarah Everard was only murdered because we were in lockdown. As if women weren't murdered every single day before the pandemic."
Someone else added: "Kirstie Allsopp thinks it was because of lockdown. There are no words....." while someone else said: "What a take, using it for your own agenda… lockdown might not have given him that reason to stop Sarah, but he’d have chosen another one, or another woman."
Allsopp's comments came as Piers Corbyn interrupted Couzens' sentencing with an anti-lockdown rant outside the Old Bailey, sparking further criticism.
Watch: MP calls out government for 'lazy response' on violence against women
