MAGISTRATES Mum-in-law hits back at abusers on social media SARAH COP ACCUSED IN COURT
But arrested nurse Karen has no regrets
SARAH Everard’s body was found wrapped in a builder’s bag after she vanished while walking home, a court heard yesterday.
Serving police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared before magistrates yesterday accused of marketing worker Sarah’s murder and kidnap.
The 33-year-old was discovered in woodland more than 50 miles from where she was last seen alive and identified by dental records, it was said.
Couzens was flanked by two officers with his head bowed, a red wound visible on his forehead.
Meanwhile as Couzens was remanded in custody yesterday, ahead of a hearing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, large-scale police searches continued.
At Westminster Magistrates Court, prosecutor Zoe Martin said footage was captured from a police dashcam as police probed Sarah’s last known movements.
She added: “At about 4.45pm on March 10 a body was discovered. The body was in a large builder’s bag.
“Dental records confirmed the body was that of Sarah Everard. A postmortem has taken place.”
The body was in a large builder’s bag. Dental records confirmed it was Sarah
ZOE MARTIN PROSECUTOR AT WESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES COURT
HANDSET
The result of that examination was not given in court.
Sarah’s mobile has yet to be recovered, the prosecutor added.
The court heard how on the night of her disappearance on March 3, Sarah bought a bottle of wine from Sainsbury’s before visiting a friend’s home in Clapham Junction, South London.
She left at 9pm to make the 2.5-mile walk home to Brixton and had a 14-minute phone call with her boyfriend, Josh Lowth, during the journey. But that was the last trace of activity on the handset, JPs were told.
Ms Martin said: “It’s not been possible to establish if the phone has been switched off or if it ran out of battery.
“Her phone has not, as yet, been recovered.”
The court heard Sarah was seen alone on CCTV at 9.15pm, again at 9.28pm and was later filmed on the camera of a marked police car at 9.32pm.
Bus cameras filmed images of Sarah at 9.35pm and 9.38pm, the court heard.
Her boyfriend reported her missing the following day, the prosecutor said.
A huge campaign was launched to find Sarah.
Couzens was arrested last Tuesday at his home in Deal, Kent, which he shares with his Ukrainian wife Elena and their two children.
Elena, 38, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and later bailed until next month.
In court Couzens, a weapons-trained member of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit, wore a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his
name, date of birth and address. The prosecutor said the investigation was “ongoing... with substantial inquiries still being carried out”.
Ms Martin said the “police have gathered a vast amount of material and continue to do so”.
Yesterday police had expanded the search site where Sarah’s body was found in woodland, close to a disused leisure centre at Great Chant, near Ashford, Kent. Remains were found on Wednesday at the site.
The body was formally confirmed as Sarah’s on Friday.
A dozen Met Police officers in fluorescent jackets were yesterday carrying out inspections of fields and hedge
EXCLUSIVE BY
THE mother-in-law of accused Wayne Couzens has blasted social media trolls, saying: “Have they never heard of presumption of innocence?”
Nina Sukhoreba’s daughter Elena married Couzens in 2006 after they met in Switzerland, where she was working.
From her home in Kirovograd, Ukraine, Mrs Sukhoreba told the Sunday Mirror: “I
rows. Piled up nearby were floral tributes to the senior marketing account manager, who had worked for several firms in London.
Among the bouquets of daffodils and carnations was a single white rose with the emblem of a bear holding a stick on it.
A message fastened to one bouquet read: “You will always now be in our thoughts. RIP Beautiful Lady.”
Couzens joined the Met in September 2018 where he worked on a response t eam in Bromley, south-east London. He then moved to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command on February 1 last year, where he patrolled foreign embassies. He is said to have carried out a 12-hour shift guarding the US Embassy the day before Sarah vanished.
Dozens of officers yesterday continued to search the site of the former garage in Dover run by Couzens’ family for almost 50 years before it closed in 2015. They have been searching nearby tunnels. A forensic tent was in place in the back garden of Couzens’ home nine miles away, where officers have already removed property, including a Ducati motorbike.
INJURY
It’s understood that more than 750 families have been spoken to as hundreds of police officers from specialist units were drafted in to help.
Last Thursday it was announced that Couzens had sustained a serious head injury early while in custody at Wandsworth.
The police watchdog is assessing the incident, in which Couzens was found unconscious in his cell, where he was alone at the time.
He was taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting for treatment.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is also probing the actions of officers in relation to an allegation of indecent exposure three days before Sarah vanished.
It is alleged a flasher exposed himself twice in one day to staff inside a roadside McDonald’s in Swanley, Kent.
Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said his thoughts and prayers were with the family and friends of Sarah, who is from York and studied a degree in geography at Durham University. Her family said this week: “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 and she brought so much joy to our lives.”
And Steve Lewis, head teacher of her old school, Fulford, said: “Those who taught Sarah speak of a lovely, bright, intelligent girl who shone.”
A NURSE fined £10,000 for protesting against Boris Johnson’s 1% pay offer yesterday stormed: “I regret not protesting more.”
Karen Reissman, 61, today speaks out over her arrest after organising a small demo against what she and hundreds of thousands of colleagues regard as an insult to NHS Covid heroes.
The nurse, who cares for mental health patients, said: “With a 1% pay rise, £3.50 a week, it would take me 56 years to pay.
“Our protest against it was socially distanced. Many people are unhappy with what the Government is doing and they want to clamp down on protest. I think it was a political decision.
“I’m an example of what will happen, to put others off. But I think we have to stand up and be counted – 1% is a deep insult.”
Karen was arrested for breaking lockdown rules as police swooped on her and 40 other protestors in Manchester city centre last week.
Her 5ft-tall friend Pat Gallagher, a 65-year-old fellow nurse who arrived as the demo was ending, was nabbed and handcuffed after grabbing Karen’s arm and asking why she was being put in a van.
Pat got a £200 fixed penalty fine for obstructing an officer.
“I hadn’t even been at the protest, I was late and it had finished,” said Pat, who told how she was horrified by the “heavy-handed” response.
“The police didn’t like the fact the press were there. But we’ve got to stand up for what we believe in. The 1% rise is a pay cut in reality. We are fighting for the future of the NHS.” The two nurses spoke out as fury continued to build more than a week after the shocking offer, with staff even venting their fury on census forms.
It came as Tory health minister Nadine Dorries’ Wikipedia page was hijacked after she backed the rise.
Now Karen is waiting to learn if her fine will be upheld after Manchester mayor Andy Burnham called for a review of the penalty.
A nurse for 40 years, Karen said the officer in charge last Sunday
contacted “Silver Command” at police HQ and they made the decision to impose the maximum fine.
This week Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Nick Bailey called the fine “appropriate”.
Karen said: “I’ve no intention of paying. I’ve had legal advice. I regret not protesting more.”
Echoing the feelings of Britain’s 300,000 NHS nurses – who start on £25,000 when qualified – she fumed: “We deserve so much more.
“Nearly 130,000 people have died. There were 100,000 nursing vacancies before the pandemic and afterwards it will be worse. Unless they change morale, more people will be driven out.
People working in the health service can see the real damage being done.”
But she believes the PM – whose life was saved by the NHS and who has stood on the doorstep of No 10 applauding the NHS – has other plans for the service in which 950 healthcare
staff are believed to have died of Covid. “There will be less and less of an NHS if they are allowed to carry on, but I don’t think Johnson and his government care about that,” said Karen.
“They want to make it so bad they can say, ‘If we privatise, it will be better’.” Nurses yesterday shared images of census form entries used to vent their anger. They answered the occupation question with withering descriptions of their working conditions.
One wrote: “Underpaid, undervalued, underappreciated, overworked slave.”
Health minister Mrs Dorries Wiki web page was changed to say she had “made outdated comments in relation to nurses”. She sparked fury by saying they would accept 1 per cent if their partners got furlough.
Royal College of Nursing chief Donna Kinnair said the union was overwhelmed by public support. It has not ruled out strikes. She said: “The Prime Minister could not have imagined a week ago the response his plan has triggered.”
»»Half under 44 want monarchy abolished »»Just 10% over 55 are on Team Sussex
HARRY and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah interview revealed a huge generational divide in public opinion on the Royal Family.
In disturbing findings for Buckingham Palace, a poll found a chasm between Millennials and older generations, with under-35s backing the couple over claims about racism and ill-treatment in the Royal Family.
Only 15% of them thought the interview more damaging for the Sussexes than the Royal Family. And
pollsters Survation found around half of people up to 44 want the monarchy abolished – and if it has to stay they want William next on the throne, not 72-year-old Charles.
When asked if they saw themselves as Team Sussex fans, 36% of 18 to 34-year-olds said yes, compared to fewer than 10% of over-55s.
And while 60% of under-35s agreed with Meghan’s claims that the royal household is racist, only 20% of over-65s thought the same.
If all age groups are combined, 66% want to keep the monarchy – with 86% of Tory voters backing it – and Labour voters split 50-50.
Overall, 45% want Charles to stand aside as heir in favour of William – although 35% were in favour of keeping things as they are.
Men are evenly divided on this issue but women come out in favour of Prince William – 49% want him as King and 31% favour his dad.
Tory voters are more likely to be behind Charles, while Labour ones are with William. More than half of all those questioned said Meghan and Harry are entitled to be inter
viewed by who they like and say what they like. But 41% overall believed the couple’s two hours with Oprah Winfrey damaged them and the Royal Family equally.
Only 17% overall said the couple came out worse while 30% thought it was more damaging to the Royal Family.
And in figures covering all age groups, just 20% backed Meghan and Harry while 35% were in the Royal Family camp.
When it comes Meghan’s mental health issues it was a close call, with 45% thinking it unlikely the Palace refused to allow her to seek help – against 39% who think they did.
Overall 40% said Prince Charles was wrong to refuse to take Harry’s phone calls. Around 35% of all those surveyed believed the couple’s claims the royal household is racist, with 37% saying they’re not.
And only 25% overall reckoned Harry and Meghan’s son Archie and their unborn daughter should be a prince and princess. But 45% of under-35s held that view. When it comes to the couple’s security arrangements, 66% overall said the taxpayer should not have to pay for them.
■ Pollsters Survation surveyed 1,037 people on March 9 and 10.