A report has found that Wayne Couzens 'should never have been a police officer'.
Couzens, 51, kidnapped and murdered Sarah Everard, 33, in March 2021 in London before being sentenced to a whole life order in prison. An enquiry has now found that chances to stop the sexual predator were repeatedly ignored and missed.
Couzens used his status as a police officer to trick Everard into thinking he could arrest her for breaking lockdown rules in place at the time.
Sarah Everard's family said they believed she died because Couzens was a police officer, adding: "She would never have got into a stranger’s car."
Sarah Everard was raped and killed by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London on March 3 2021.
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Inquiry chairwoman Lady Elish Angiolini warned without a radical overhaul of policing practices and culture, there is "nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight."
She said: "Failures of investigations, failures of recruitment processes, and failures of vetting policy and practice are a depressingly familiar refrain in policing. Now is the time for change and I have made 16 recommendations to bring about the necessary changes.
"Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. And, without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight.
“I would urge all those in authority in every police force in the country to read this report and take immediate action. Sarah’s parents and loved ones live in the perpetual grief and pain of having lost Sarah in this way. Her death, and the public discourse it caused, should galvanise those responsible for policing to make sure something like this can never happen again."
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Wayne Couzens murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021PAMet Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s said: "There is nothing we can say to the family of Sarah Everard and all those who loved her that will convey how very sorry we are. Wayne Couzens’ crimes were horrific.
"The fact that he abused his position as a Metropolitan Police officer to carry them out represents the most appalling betrayal of trust. It damages the relationship between the public and the police and exposes long-standing fundamental flaws in the way we decide who is fit to be a police officer and the way we pursue those who corrupt our integrity once they get in.
"The report published today is an urgent call to action for all of us in policing. We must go further and faster, to earn back the trust of all those whose confidence in policing has been shaken by events of recent years.
“Regardless of our significant progress over the past year, the scale of the change that is needed inevitably means it will take time and it is not yet complete. The majority of my Met colleagues share my determination to reform by both confronting the risk posed by predatory men in policing, and also, improving our protection of women and children across London."
Inquiry chairwoman Lady Elish Angiolini makes a statement to the Inquiry
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Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "The act of pure evil committed against Sarah shocked the nation to its core. My heart goes out to Sarah’s family and to all the brave victims who came forward to help inform this report and drive change.
"The man who committed these crimes is not a reflection on the majority of dedicated police officers working day in, day out to help people. But Sarah was failed in more ways than one by the people who were meant to keep her safe, and it laid bare wider issues in policing and society that need to be urgently fixed.
“In the three years since, a root and stem clean-up of the policing workforce has been underway and we have made huge strides – as well as making tackling violence against women and girls a national policing priority to be treated on par with terrorism.
"But we will continue to do everything in our power to protect women and girls. I am grateful to Lady Elish for her meticulous investigation. Her insights will be invaluable as we move forward in supporting our police to build forces of the highest standards of integrity and regain the trust of the British public."
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he is looking to build the "highest standards of integrity" in the British police force
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Sarah Everard was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in a crime that shocked the nation.
The vigil on Clapham Common, near where Sarah had disappeared, led to a controversial police response, accusations of the police being heavy-handed, and four people were arrested at this peaceful protest for breaches of COVID-19 regulations.
