London cop gets life for Everard murder
LONDON: A British police officer was on Thursday sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, whose disappearance sparked protests and calls for action against male violence.
Wayne Couzens, 48, snatched the 33-year-old marketing executive in south London in March, after falsely arresting her on the pretence she had broken coronavirus restrictions.
The judge said Couzens’ use of his police status to carry out the “grotesque” offences warranted the highest penalty — a rare wholelife jail term for which there is no possibility of parole.
The sentence means Couzens joins 60 other of Britain’s most danger- ous criminals who will die behind bars.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “sickened” at Couzens’ crimes, and he had acted in “total betrayal” of his role to protect the public.
Everard’s disappearance sparked one of Britain’s most high-profile missing persons investigations and protests calling for better safety for women in public spaces.
Couzens, who served with the elite diplomatic protection unit of London’s Metropolitan Police, admitted kidnapping, rape and murder at a hearing in July and was sacked.
Sentencing him at the Old Bailey in central London, Judge Adrian Fulford said his actions were “devastating, tragic and wholly brutal” and his victim was “wholly blameless”.
“The misuse of a police officer’s role such as occurred in this case in order to kidnap, rape and murder a lone victim is of equal seriousness as a murder for the purpose of advancing a political, religious ideological cause,” he added. Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, who faces calls to resign, apologised and said Couzens had “brought shame” on the force. “His actions were a gross betrayal of everything policing stands for,” she added.
Everard’s family said they were relieved at the severity of the sentence. “The world is a safer place with him imprisoned,” they said in a statement.
The case refocused attention on how British police handle complaints of violence against females.
Mr Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel, whose department oversees policing, vowed tougher action to improve safety.
But questions have been raised about failures to address previous complaints of indecent exposure against Couzens, who was said to have been a user of sex workers and violent pornography, and was nicknamed “the rapist” by colleagues.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer asked how Couzens was able to “slip through the net”.