Murder of Sarah Everard
On the evening of 3 March 2021, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was kidnapped in South London, England, as she was walking home to the Brixton Hill area from a friend's house near Clapham Common.
Everard's remains were discovered in a densely wooded area near Ashford on 10 March; following their identification, Couzens was charged with her kidnapping and murder.
A public inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini KC was commissioned to investigate how Couzens was permitted to serve as a police officer despite an extensive history of alleged sexual offences.
The first part of the report, published in February 2024, found that Couzens had a history of alleged sexual offending and that failings in the vetting process allowed him to become a police officer.
[4][5] At the time of her death, Everard lived in the Brixton Hill area and worked as a marketing executive for a digital media agency.
[16] Couzens had not undergone enhanced vetting as part of his recruitment nor had he gone through the mandatory two-year probation period with the Met before joining the PaDP.
Between 23:53 and 00:57 on 4 March, Couzens's mobile phone connected to cell sites in the Shepherdswell area;[20] it is believed that he raped Everard at some point between midnight and 01:45.
[34] At 16:20 on 10 March, police searching Hoad's Wood found human remains in a large builder's bag, approximately 100 metres (110 yd)[31] from Couzens's plot.
[26][39][40] Police in Dover also searched the site of a former body repair garage, previously owned by Couzens's family,[41] at the top of the White Cliffs.
[56] He then claimed to be having financial problems after paying for sex in Folkestone,[31] and that a gang of Eastern Europeans had threatened him and his family, demanding he deliver "another girl" after underpaying a prostitute a few weeks before.
[62][63] Pending medical reports into his mental health at the time of Everard's death, Couzens did not enter a plea on the charge of murder.
[76] In November 2022, two of Couzens's colleagues—PC Jonathon Cobban and former PC Joel Borders—were jailed for multiple counts of sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network.
[78] Couzens's crimes led to a non-statutory inquiry headed by Lady Elish Angiolini into how he was permitted to work as a police officer for three separate forces despite his behaviour causing concern.
[79] In February 2024, Angiolini's report said that Couzens had a history of alleged sexual offending,[11]: v that he should never have been a police officer, and that multiple forces missed "red flags" during his vetting processes.
"[11]: vii Following the inquiry, Home Secretary James Cleverly announced that police officers charged with "certain offences"[b] would be automatically suspended from duty.
[102] On 30 September 2021, after Couzens's sentencing, the Met stated that people should consider "shouting out to a passerby, running into a house, knocking on a door, waving a bus down or, if you are in the position to do so, calling 999" if they felt uncomfortable when being stopped by a single police officer.
[116] The Guardian stated in an editorial that "there is no sign that the Met understands the profound crisis of faith that it faces", pointing to a tribunal case related to the UK undercover policing relationships scandal that was resolved in the same week as Couzens's sentencing.
This person will also work alongside me, challenging my senior team and our leadership on standards, corruption, sexual misconduct and how the Met responds when things go wrong.
A second enquiry would investigate cases where allegations of sexual misconduct or domestic abuse were made against police officers or members of staff, who still work in the force.
Kempton was found guilty of professional misconduct "concerning respect and courtesy" and given a final written warning valid for two years.
[125] On 15 November 2024, Myles McHugh, a serving Metropolitan Police officer, was dismissed for gross misconduct after having viewed confidential files related to Everard's murder without good cause.
[127][128][129][130] After the murder, the British government reopened its public consultation on its violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy, receiving an additional 160,000 responses in two weeks.
Fiona Vera-Gray, deputy director of the child and woman abuse studies unit at London Metropolitan University, said that because of the underreporting of indecent exposure, criminal justice statistics do not accurately demonstrate its prevalence and most offenders are not convicted.
[147] Vigils still took place in several cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham, Liverpool and Sheffield.
Camden councillor Angela Mason and others[153] criticised the police handling of this small vigil, which included asking attendees and a local journalist to leave to comply with COVID-19 mass-gathering regulations.
[169] The review, published on 30 March 2021, found that the police had "reacted appropriately and were not heavy handed" and were "justified" in their stance with respect to the COVID regulations, saying that the risks of transmission were "too great to ignore".
"[169][171][172][173] HMICFRS also concluded that the Met had incorrectly interpreted coronavirus-related restrictions due to legal confusion, and that not all demonstrations during a Tier 4 lockdown are unlawful.
[175] Four members of Reclaim These Streets took legal action against the Metropolitan Police, claiming that their human rights to freedom of speech and assembly had been breached in connection with their attempt to organise the vigil.
One of those originally convicted announced that she would be pursuing a civil claim against the Met, as did Patsy Stevenson, who was handcuffed and held down by two male officers at the vigil.
[183][184] In March 2024, the Metropolitan Police agreed to pay £10,000 in damages to Jennifer Edmunds, a woman arrested at the Clapham Common Vigil and detained overnight on the charge of breaching Covid restrictions.
