This is the moment a man interrupts filming – and refuses to leave – as a mother and daughter tell their story about feeling unsafe in public.
Gill Jones was being interviewed by ITV’s Anna Youssef on a park bench in Birkenhead, Merseyside. She was recounting how a man tried to sexually assault her daughter, Beth Fletcher, on a recent night out, with the incident sparking a violent brawl.
It was at this point when a man sat between the women, interrupted the interview and refused to leave. The ITV report said other benches were available in the park.
The women ultimately chose to leave for safety reasons. Watch the clip below.
Sadly you couldn’t make this up:
Man aggressively interrupts women filming a report about creating safe spaces for women.
A mother and daughter sharing their story on feeling unsafe had to stop as he became verbally aggressive, perfectly proving why such spaces are needed. pic.twitter.com/g70M0Orb2v
— David Challen (@David_Challen) December 4, 2024
Domestic abuse campaigner David Challen, who posted the clip on X, is the son of Sally Challen, who was jailed for life for killing her husband Richard Challen with a hammer in 2010, but walked free in 2019 after lawyers argued she had suffered decades of abuse.
He said the incident “highlights how women are forced to live on guard, never knowing when intimidation or violence will escalate”.
And Jones, reflecting on the man’s conduct in the park, said: “I was starting to get a little bit scared, having experienced what we experienced a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen and how that was going to escalate.
“I was already safety planning really quickly, which you don’t think you should have to when coming out into a public area.”
Jones, Fletcher and Youseff had been filming for a campaign by charity Tomorrow’s Women to make public spaces safer for women.
The charity, which recently announced a women’s only club night in Birkenhead, said “the incident that occurred during filming highlights the need for events like ours to take place”.
One in eight women experience harassment
An Office for National Statistics (ONS) report in December last year found more women (13%) than men (7%) had experienced at least one form of harassment in England and Wales in the previous 12 months.
This included sexual harassment, experienced by 8% of women compared to 3% of men.
The ONS found experiences of harassment are more prevalent among younger age groups, with 20% of 16 to 19-year-olds and 21% of 20 to 24-year-olds reporting it.
On Wednesday, meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said women who make reports of inappropriate behaviour must have “confidence that they will be taken seriously”.
The prime minister said politicians should be ready to put in place “mechanisms” that would instil that confidence, after a Labour MP asked him about “women of a certain age”: reflecting comments for which broadcaster Gregg Wallace – who has been accused of harassment – has apologised.