Police officer appears in court charged with Sarah Everard murder

Police constable Wayne Couzens, 48, is charged with kidnapping and killing the 33-year-old, who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on March 3.

Her body was found hidden in an area of woodland in Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday.

Couzens appeared in person at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday morning for his first appearance following his arrest on Tuesday.

He arrived at the central London court at 10am in a large blue police van, stepping into the dock around 10:30am.

Couzens wore a grey tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his name and personal details, sitting between two plain clothes officers in the dock.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring remanded Couzens in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, March 16.

The Metropolitan Police previously said Couzens joined the force in 2018, most recently serving in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, an armed unit responsible for guarding the Parliamentary estate and embassies in London.

His main job was uniformed patrol of diplomatic buildings and Scotland Yard said he was not on duty at the time of Ms Everard’s disappearance.

The force said that Couzens, of Deal, in Kent, was taken to hospital for a second time in 48 hours on Friday, March 12 for treatment to another head injury suffered in custody, before he was discharged and returned to a police station.

He was previously treated in hospital for a separate head wound on Thursday, also sustained in custody when he was alone in his cell.

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