Reported 3 days before
» Indecent exposure in restaurant probed » Family’s agony over loss of ‘our beautiful girl’
BY TOM PETTIFOR and AMY-CLARE MARTIN THE police officer suspected of abducting and murdering Sarah Everard was allegedly reported for exposing himself in a fast food restaurant three days before she disappeared.
The police watchdog is investigating two Met officers to find out if they responded “appropriately” when staff in the South London takeaway reported the sex crime on Sunday, February 28.
As detectives were granted more time to quiz PC Wayne Couzens, 48, Sarah’s parents told of the pain of having their 33-yearold daughter “taken from us” as they appealed to the public for help to “solve this terrible crime”.
It also emerged that Couzens, being held on suspicion of abduction and murder, and indecent exposure, was treated for a head wound in hospital after being found collapsed in his cell yesterday morning. He was returned to custody after treatment.
Sarah’s father Jeremy, 67, a professor of electronics at York University, and charity worker mother Sue, 64, released a statement paying tribute to a daughter who had “brought so much joy to our lives”. The couple, who have a son, James and another daughter, Katie, said: “Sarah was bright and beautiful – a wonderful daughter and sister. She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour.
“She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. “We are very proud of her.” They appealed for help from the public, and said: “Please come forward and speak to the police if you have any information. No piece of information is too insignificant.”
Human remains found in woods in Ashford, Kent, by detectives investigating the disappearance on March 3 were removed in a private ambulance yesterday.
A sea of floral tributes were left nearby. One read: “From women everywhere, we hope to change the world. All our love x.”
Another said: “Sarah Everard we send our love and prayers. We will always remember you.”
Couzens was arrested six days after marketing executive Sarah vanished while walking home to Brixton, South London, after visiting a friend. Around 20 officers
descended on his home in Deal, Kent, which is around 85 miles away.
A woman in her 30s, who was arrested at the same time on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail to return to a police station in midApril.
On the day of Sarah’s disappearance, armed officer Couzens was reportedly working a 2pm to 8pm relief shift at the US Embassy in Nine Elms, southwest London, around three miles from where she was last seen.
Police confirmed he was not on duty when Sarah vanished.
He is not thought to have been known to her.
It is understood a breakthrough came from a CCTV camera on a bus that had been travelling along the route where Sarah disappeared. This is thought to have prompted police to cordon off Poynders Road, in Clapham, south-west London, at around 4pm on Tuesday. Forensics officers searched the street a short distance from where Sarah was last seen on a doorbell camera walking on the A205 towards Tulse Hill at 9.30pm last Wednesday.
A short time later, neighbours reported seeing plain-clothed officers near the suspect’s Kent home.
By this time, Met murder squad detectives were on their way from London, arriving in Deal at around 7pm.
Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Martin Hewitt, said: “News that a serving police officer has been arrested on suspicion of murder has sent anger and sadness across policing.” Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said Couzens’ arrest had “sent waves of shock and anger through the public and the whole of the Met”.
She added: “We are utterly appalled at this dreadful news.”
The Independent Office of Police Conduct probe into the alleged indecent exposure follows a Met conduct referral in relation to two officers.
It is understood it was recorded as a crime at the time and investigators will be examining what further action was taken. The venue is thought to have CCTV and the IOPC will want to know if steps were taken to secure it.
The events have prompted women across the country to share their own experiences of feeling unsafe.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the concerns “are so powerful because each and every woman can relate”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “deeply saddened”. He said: “We must work fast to find all the answers to this horrifying crime.”
She was kind, thoughtful, caring and dependable and brought so much joy
JEREMY AND SUE EVERARD PARENTS’ TRIBUTE TO SARAH