At moving vigils across the UK
‘Body in a bag’ miles from home
SARAH Everard’s body was found in a builder’s bag over 50 miles from where she vanished, a court heard yesterday.
Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared before magistrates accused of the 33-year-old’s kidnap and murder.
Couzens, wearing a tracksuit and with what appeared to be a wound on his head, was remanded in custody ahead of a hearing at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Zoe Martin had told the court footage of Sarah’s last known movements in Clapham, South London, on March 3 was filmed on a dashcam in a passing marked police car.
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.”
Her mobile has yet to be recovered. The court heard how on the night of her disappearance, Sarah bought a bottle of wine before visiting a friend.
She left at 9pm to walk the 2.5 miles home to Brixton and had a 14-minute phone call with boyfriend Josh Lowth.
But that was the last trace of activity on the handset, JPS were told.
Searching
Couzens, a weapons-trained member of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit, was arrested last Tuesday at his home in Deal, Kent.
His wife Elena, 38, has been bailed on suspicion of assisting an offender.
He joined the Metropolitan Police in September 2018 working in a response team in Bromley, South East London.
Couzens moved to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command last year, where he patrolled embassies.
He is said to have carried out a 12-hour shift guarding the US Embassy the day before Sarah vanished.
Officers are still searching the site of a former garage run by Couzens’ family in Dover for almost 50 years until 2015. Nearby tunnels are also being examined.
A forensic tent was in place in the garden of his home nine miles away, where officers have removed property.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is probing officers’ actions in relation to an indecent exposure claim three days before Sarah vanished.