Metropolitan Police officer Pc Wayne Couzens pleads guilty to murder of Sarah Everard

A Metropolitan Police officer has pleaded guilty to murdering Sarah Everard.

By Fiona Thompson

Published 9th Jul 2021, 12:35 BST

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Wayne Couzens, 48, kidnapped Ms Everard in a hire car as she walked from a friend’s in Clapham, south London, on the evening of Wednesday, March 3.

The sexual predator, who had clocked off from a 12-hour shift that morning, raped and strangled the 33-year-old marketing executive.

Police launched an inquiry after Ms Everard was reported missing by boyfriend Josh Lowth.

A court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of serving police constable Wayne Couzens, making his first appearance at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh top security jail in south London back in March.

A court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of serving police constable Wayne Couzens, making his first appearance at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh top security jail in south London back in March.

Couzens, a firearms-trained parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer, wiped his phone just minutes before his arrest at home in Deal, Kent, on Tuesday, March 9.

The following day Ms Everard’s body was found in Ashford, Kent, just metres from land owned by Couzens.

The killing sparked protests at the rate of violence against women.

Police were criticised over the manhandling of women at a vigil for Ms Everard attended by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London to the murder of Sarah Everard.

Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London to the murder of Sarah Everard.

Last month, Couzens admitted Ms Everard’s kidnap and rape.

Today, Friday, July 9, her family were at the Old Bailey as he pleaded guilty to her murder through a video link from Belmarsh high security jail.

Prosecutor Tom Little QC said: “Before the defendant kidnapped Sarah Everard on the South Circular on March 3 this year, he had not previously met her, he did not know her and had no direct or indirect contact with her.

“They were total strangers to each other.”

Floral tributes left at the bandstand in Clapham Common, London, for Sarah Everard.

Floral tributes left at the bandstand in Clapham Common, London, for Sarah Everard.

Jim Sturman QC, defending, said: “His pleas today represents a truly guilty plea and remorse for what he did and, as he put it to us this morning, he will bear the burden for the rest of his life – his words: ‘as I deserve’.”

A two-day sentencing hearing is scheduled from September 29.

It can now be reported Couzens hired a Vauxhall Astra days before the murder.

A bus camera appeared to capture Ms Everard being intercepted by Couzens in Balham and then drove to Tilmanstone, near Deal, at 1am.

Investigators tracked the route using CCTV and ANPR cameras and identified the driver as an officer through the car hire firm.

In the days after, Couzens reported suffering from stress and did not want to carry a firearm any more.

He concocted an elaborate story, claiming financial difficulties and he was in trouble with a gang of Eastern Europeans who threatened him and his family.

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