Edinburgh crash: Driver charged after car ploughs through crowds at Palestine protest

The 70-year-old driver has been charged.

A woman has been charged after her car ploughed through crowds of protesters gathered at a Palestine protest in Edinburgh city centre on Saturday.

Photos shared on social media by protesters show the car surrounded by Police Officers as they gathered on The Mound to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hundreds gathered shortly before 2pm on Saturday January 13 to demand an end to the violence in Gaza at the event organised by the Edinburgh Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee.

Palestine Protest city centre Photo: Jeff Mitchell

Shortly after a black Seat was pictured surrounded by Police Scotland officers as it tried to force through the crowds and make its way down Ramsay Lane. Police confirmed that some protesters suffered minor injuries.

Many took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their anger at the incident. One said: “Hearing reports that someone has driven a car into the protesters at a Palestine protest in Edinburgh...

Waiting for further information but if this was done deliberately then it is truly disgusting and put at risk the lives of those peacefully protesting.”

In response another claimed the act was deliberate: “It was absolutely done deliberately. I was maybe the fifth row in from where she entered the crowd. She had ample room to reverse and turn round the way she came but she purposefully continued to push through the crowd.”

One concerned protester lost a friend in the commotion. “Totally surreal experience. I was at the back where the car entered the crowd, with a 76-year-old friend with vascular dementia. We lost her in the commotion and my heart sank when people started shouting ‘there’s someone under the car’. So lucky everyone was unhurt.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 2.30pm on Saturday, 13 January, 2024, we were made aware of a road crash involving a car and a small number of pedestrians in Ramsay Lane Edinburgh.

"Officers received reports of minor injuries from pedestrians, but no medical attention was required. A 70-year-old woman has been arrested and charged in connection with a driving offence.

"A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”