PC in court with head gash and a black eye
THE police firearms officer charged with kidnapping and murdering Sarah Everard has appeared in court with a head wound and a black eye.
Wayne Couzens, who is attached to Scotland Yard’s elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, had been twice taken to hospital for head injuries sustained in custody.
The 48-year-old was given first aid and taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south-west London, on Thursday and Friday last week for wounds he suffered while alone in his cell, Scotland Yard said.
On Saturday, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that his alleged victim’s body had been discovered inside a builder’s bag and identified using dental records. Appearing in court, the father of two stood in the dock in a grey tracksuit flanked by two plainclothes officers.
With his head bowed and shoulders slumped, he spoke only to confirm his full name, address and date of birth.
Couzens is accused of abducting Miss Everard, 33, as she walked home from a friend’s flat in south London, killing her and attempting to hide her body in woodland near Ashford, Kent. He will appear at London’s Old Bailey tomorrow after being remanded in custody.
Couzens was a member of the Army Reserve and served in the 3rd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment for two years from 2002. He joined the Metropolitan Police in September 2018.