A woman flashed by Wayne Couzens three days before he killed Sarah Everard sobbed today as she said ‘we could saved Sarah’ if police had done their jobs.
Scotland Yard was condemned by a judge for doing ‘nothing’ to stop the predatory officer, saying he could ‘easily’ have been traced after committing a series of indecent exposure attacks in the days before he abducted, raped and killed the 33-year-old.
Today Sarah’s mother Susan watched on as the former Met officer was sentenced to 19 months for the three ‘monstrous’ attacks in addition to the whole life sentence he is already serving for her murder.
The firearms officer was supposed to be on duty, working from home when he leapt out of the woods at a female cyclist, standing naked carrying out a sex act in a remote country lane in Kent in November 2020.
The 50-year-old went on to expose himself to two terrified female attendants at a McDonalds drive-through restaurant in Kent on February 14 and 27, with the last attack just three days before Couzens snatched Miss Everard, 33, from a street in south London.
CCTV has now been released showing Couzens making two trips to the McDonald’s Drive-thru in Swanley, Kent
Police were given his description, car registration and bank card details yet officers failed to investigate any of the attacks, interview the victims or identify the sex offender as one of their own officers until he had been arrested for the murder.
The Old Bailey heard today how the three women targeted had been left with ‘survivors’ guilt’ after both Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police failed to take the crimes seriously enough and missed crucial opportunities to stop Couzens.
Mrs Justice May said: ‘He could have easily been traced by his car and his card.
‘Nothing was done by police at the time. Sarah Everard was taken three days later on 3 March 2021.
‘The fact that no police came to find him or his black car, to question him about these incidents, can only have served to confirm and strengthen in the defendant’s mind a dangerous belief in his invincibility, in his power to dominate and sexually abuse women without being stopped.’
Earlier today the woman who was flashed by Couzens three days before Miss Everard’s murder wept as she told how she recognised his face in newspaper articles following his arrest.
‘I could not believe that I had met someone who would go on to be a killer’ she said.
‘It made me realise that police officers are ordinary people, some of whom could be a threat instead of trying to protect me.
Couzens is seen placing an order at the McDonald’s while driving back home following a 12-hour shift with the Met
Couzens’ car (blue arrow) queues behind another vehicle while waiting to pick up the order
As Couzens’ collected his food and drink, he exposed himself to members of staff at the restaurant
Murderer Wayne Couzens has been sentenced at the Old Bailey after admitting three counts of indecent exposure
Court artist sketch of Wayne Couzens appearing at the Old Bailey today via video link from HMP Frankland
‘This indecent exposure incident was reported on the Sunday.
‘I had no one contact me or ask for a statement. It was only after Sarah’s murder that I became involved.
‘If he had been held accountable when we had reported the crime, we could have saved Sarah.’
The parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer also exposed himself to a female cyclist in Deal, Kent who then told a female police officer what had happened within minutes of the attack on November 13, 2020.
The attack happened only a few miles from where the defendant took Miss Everard after kidnapping her.
But police were unable to trace Couzens at the time after the victim could not recall his full number plate.
She told Couzens: ‘You took my freedom and replaced it with fear. It was a selfish, aggressive act and it has had a serious impact upon the quality of my life, and upon the quality of life of those close to me.
‘I am aware that for some indecent exposure, is viewed as a minor offence but research shows that this is a progressive form of behaviour. I remember vividly being concerned that somebody who could expose themselves to a stranger in such an intimidating way could go on to commit much more serious acts.
‘This is what happened. Four months after you exposed yourself to me, you raped and murdered an innocent woman.
‘There were opportunities to identify you and they were not taken.
‘I did not feel that, when I reported your crime, it was taken as seriously as I felt that it should have been. The horror of what happened will remain with me for the rest of my life.’
The McDonald’s drive-thru in Swanley, Kent, where Couzens flashed staff in February 2021
Sarah Everard, 33, was abducted, raped and murdered by Couzens while he was a serving Metropolitan Police officer
Two police officers are facing misconduct proceedings for their handling of the allegations.
Couzens showed no emotion during the hearing as he appeared on videolink from Frankland Prison.
Following his murder conviction, Couzens was charged with six counts of indecent exposure.
In February, he pleaded guilty to three of the charges after failing in his bid to get the case thrown out citing adverse publicity around Miss Everard’s murder.
He denied three other indecent exposure allegations dating back to June 2015.
An independent inquiry led by Dame Elish Angiolini is underway to consider Couzens earlier sexual offending and whether opportunities were missed to stop him before the murder.
Separately, Kent Police will begin misconduct hearings for a sergeant who allegedly failed to properly investigate reports that a man – later identified as Couzens – had been seen driving with no trousers on in 2015.
The Met PC will face claims he failed to properly investigate the evidence identifying Couzens as the driver who flashed staff at McDonald’s before providing a dishonest account to IOPC inspectors.
Meanwhile, the Kent Police sergeant is accused of failing to follow all lines of inquiry before closing their investigation into the report of a man driving naked.
The IOPC said Couzens was never spoken to and it had ‘found no evidence’ that the investigators realised he was a police officer.
DailyMail
