Eight people were arrested today during King Charles' Scottish Coronation in Edinburgh.
The constitutional event took place today, Wednesday July 5, with thousands of people lining the streets including hundreds of peaceful protestors. King Charles III was presented with the Honours of Scotland at St Giles’ Cathedral and only eight arrests were made for a variety of offences.
Police Scotland thanked the 'overwhelming majority of protestors' for engaging with officers and ensuring the day passed without 'significant disruption'
Police said an update on Thursday morning that two women have now been charged in connection with a breach of the peace after allegedly attempting to climb over a crowd safety barrier on the Royal Mile. They are due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday, July 11.
Three men and one woman were arrested for alleged threatening behaviour and failing to desist. One man was arrested for theft, and another in connection with an outstanding warrant.
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, police lead for the event, said: “This significant constitutional event took place safely without any disruption to the ceremony or people’s procession.
“Safety was our priority and a number of actions were taken to ensure this, which included an open approach to engaging with potential protest groups.
“Over the past few weeks, our protest liaison team have been speaking to protest groups, we set up an Independent Advisory Group to help guide our approach and, in coordination with the event organiser and the local authority crowd safety manager, we worked hard to identify dedicated protest areas to maximise public safety, balanced against people’s rights to protest.
“I would like to thank the overwhelming majority of protestors who engaged with us and also our officers whose professionalism helped ensure the safe delivery of this event for everyone who attended.
“Decisions about how to police protests require us to balance complex and often competing rights and issues. We have a legal duty to protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest.
“Our priority is public safety and a policing plan was in place to maintain people’s safety, ensure the safe delivery of this event, enable peaceful protest and minimise disruption.”
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