I AM fairly relaxed when it comes to social distancing and I believe the police should use a bit of common sense when it comes to applying the law especially when there are only one or two people, say at the seaside or countryside, but the vigil carried out by the crowd for Sarah Everard was definitely breaking the law.

OK, make allowances for this particular vigil, but when told to disperse, these people should have realised they had made their point and gone home.

Unfortunately, when there are these sort of gatherings there will always be a few rent-a-mob who are there for confrontation.

I am no fan of Cressida Dick as I believe her appointment was definitely one of the most blatant cases of positive discrimination, as she was the officer in charge of one of the most disgraceful episodes in the Metropolitan history, the totally unjustified shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Was she to inform her officers not to make any arrests because of the reason for the vigil, telling them to ignore people breaking the law on this occasion? f course not. It would have set a precedent.

Then there is the media, always ready to stir the pot, and of course, politicians from all parties ready to jump on the bandwagon, when they are the ones instrumental in making the law in the first place.

To really make a difference from this tragic murder why not issue all women who feel this vulnerability at times with a pepper spray?

If this is not practicable then I was told that hairspray is a perfectly good replacement. What about those women who feel confident to be given free lessons in self-defence, one of which is an attack which would leave their attacker’s capability temporarily or permanently (hopefully) impaired.

Thomas Ball, Barnard Castle.