Police apologise for 'causing offence' after cop stopped Christian singer

30 January 2024 , 21:24

747     0

Harmonie London was stopped from performing gospel songs on Oxford Street in London (Image: Harmonie London/Youtube)

Police have apologised for "causing offence" after a volunteer officer told a Christian street singer she was "not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds".

Gospel singer Harmonie London, 20, had been performing gospel music to shoppers on London's busy Oxford Street, and was streaming the video to her more than 300,000 subscribers on YouTube. But footage shared on social media shows Metropolitan Police special constable Maya Hadzhipetkova stopping Harmonie from performing, before telling her: "No miss, you're not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds, by the way." She later appears to stick her tongue out at the camera following a heated discussion.

Social media commenters have been left furious and some people accused the officer of "inventing the law as you go". Posting the video online, one man said: "This is a disgrace this officer needs sacking." The force said the volunteer officer is being spoken to by her manager, adding that they were reviewing body-worn footage of the incident, and that the initial interaction was related to a by-law about busking.

The Met Police wrote on X (formerly Twitter ): "We're reviewing body worn video of this interaction - it's more than 40mins long. At the heart of this is a specific by-law related to busking. The officer knows she could have handled this differently and is speaking to her manager."

The special constable told her to leave (@benonwine/Twitter)

She stuck her tongue out at the camera (@benonwine/Twitter)

It has since clarified that the supposed breach was due to unlicensed busking rather than the content of the songs Harmonie was singing. They said: "The officer was mistaken in saying church songs cannot be sung outside of church grounds. We’re sorry for the offence caused and will take the learning forward."

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

The force added that they are aware of the commentary on social media regarding the incident and the clip was part of a 43-minute conversation between the pair. Harmonie told how the officer had threatened to seize her keyboard and speakers if she did not stop singing - having already performed Amazing Grace and the contemporary song Goodness of God. Harmonie - who lives in North London - has argued that she wasn't busking, but instead "sharing the gospel". Speaking to the MailOnline, she said she "wasn't any type of complaint or noise nuisance" and "there was no complaint" from those passing by.

She claimed before the video was filmed, Ms Hadzhipetkova had "approached me before, harassing me, and I explained to her that it's freedom of religion, article nine – I had my human right to sing the gospel, it's not the same as busking. I'm actually sharing the gospel. She went off but she was very argumentative. She came back, she literally marched up to me, stood in front of me and said stop your music now. She literally laughed at my human rights."

Social media users have called for the officer to be sacked (@benonwine/Twitter)

Harmonie said she felt intimidated (@harmonieldn/Instagram)

She went on to say: "I don't approach people. I don't force people to listen. I sing and they can choose to listen - and if they don't, they can choose to move on. A big crowd formed, they were literally begging the police to leave me alone." She said she handed them documents printed from the Christian Concern website which stated her legal rights to perform, but the police "didn't care". Harmonie then packed up her stuff and said the officer stuck her tongue out when she mentioned human rights.

"She didn't even want me to stand on the pavement. She was bullying me. She was kind of laughing, kind of like 'Hey, I'm in this powerful position'. It was very intimidating." Harmonie added that she is a "quiet person" and although she likes to sing "that's not the sort of attention I seek". She also claimed that Ms Hadzhipetkova "threatened to take my equipment" - worth around £3,000 - and said she would "seize it".

Former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe is among those to demand that the officer in the video is "struck off from the voluntary force", telling GB News: "She really has got the law completely wrong and she was obviously enjoying herself rather too much, trying to boss this woman around. And there is no basis at all for saying you can't sing. I could walk down the street singing Onward Christian Soldiers and I would be committing no offence at all." The Mirror has contacted the Met for comment.

Ryan Merrifield