Police accused over baton charge at embassy protest

DEMONSTRATORS have accused the Met police of heavy-handed tactics after they were charged in an underpass during the Gaza protest on Saturday.

Some told how they feared they were going to die when a crowd of hundreds panicked as they faced charging riot squad officers wielding batons.

Organisers of the demonstration have challenged police tactics of ordering protesters into the Piccadilly underpass as they walked from Trafalgar Square to the Israeli embassy in Kensington.

Police said that they had agreed to the march on condition it was properly policed but when it reached the underpass they claim violence broke out with some demonstrators trying to drag officers into the crowd.

Scotland Yard said officers made one "10-metre advance" into the crowd using "recognised and proportionate tactics". A spokesman added: "There were no police lines behind the group of protesters and at all times demonstrators could leave via the underpass back into Piccadilly."

Among several people injured was Asil Alrashidi, 23, a bank worker from Langley, Berkshire. She told the Guardian: "I was petrified. The riot police were charging and pushing people, hitting them with their batons."