Sarah Everard killer Wayne Couzens 'should never have been a police officer', inquiry finds

Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens "should never have been a police officer", an inquiry has found.

Couzens, who will never be released from prison, was a Met Police constable at the time he abducted and murdered the young woman in 2021. The inquiry into whether red flags over the cop were missed concluded that police "repeatedly failed" to spot warning signs over his "unsuitability for office".

Lady Elish Angiolini, chairwoman of the inquiry, said in her findings that three different police forces "could and should" have stopped Couzens from being employed as an officer. Lady Elish also found that there were a catalogue of failing from how Couzens was recruited and vetted, as well as how allegations against him were investigated.

According to the inquiry's report, evidence of allegations made against Couzens were laid bare, including accusations of sexual abuse and a "very serious sexual assault of a child barely into her teens". The allegations of sexual offending stretched back nearly 20 years before the murder of Ms Everard.

Lady Elish said: “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."

She also urged all police forces across the country to "take immediate action". She also called for an urgent review of indecent exposure charges against serving police officers.

Ms Everard's family said they believed that Couzens' status as a police officer contributed to her death. Her mother Sue, father Jeremy, sister Katie and brother James said in a statement: “It is obvious that Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. Whilst holding a position of trust, he was a serial sex offender.

“Warning signs were overlooked throughout his career and opportunities to confront him were missed. We believe that Sarah died because he was a police officer – she would never have got into a stranger’s car.”

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said that the report served as “an urgent call to action for all of us in policing”. He added: "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.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement: “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."