British policeman who raped and murdered Sarah Everard has been sentenced to life in prison

British policeman was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for the rape and murder of the young Londoner Sarah Everard, a case that shocked the UK and sparked a debate on women’s safety and policing.

The murder took place in “particularly brutal, tragic and devastating circumstances“Said Judge Adrian Fulford of the London Criminal Court, announcing the conviction of Wayne Couzens, 48.

Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, was kidnapped, raped, strangled and burned Returning home on the evening of March 3 after visiting friends in South London. His remains were found in a forest a week later.

His disappearance, which occurred in full containment against the coronavirus, shocked the whole country, sparked major protests and sparked a heated debate on the safety of women on the streets.

Couzens, officer of the elite London Police diplomatic protection unit, was recognized by CCTV cameras and arrested on March 9 at his home in Deal, in the south-east of England. In July, he admitted to having committed kidnapping, rape and murder.

Accusing him of having circumvented the restrictions imposed against COVID, which then prohibited gatherings at the homes of others, the policeman, who was not on duty, made a “false arrest”, handcuff the young woman before kidnapping her, prosecutor Tom Little explained in court on Wednesday.

Security camera footage captured this scene, which was also seen by a couple passing in a car and suspected that an undercover police officer was making an arrest, the prosecutor said.

He took her handcuffed to his car, watched by a few passers-by who thought they were witnessing an arrest rather than a kidnapping, and drove her to the outskirts of Kent (south-eastern England), in Approximately 125 kilometers, where he raped her in an area of ​​Ashford Forest and murdered her by strangling her with a police belt.

Couzens burned Everard’s body and disposed of the remains by dumping them in a nearby pond., as officers discovered a week later, with the help of sniffer dogs.

Judge Adrian Fulford said the circumstances of the case were “devastating, tragic and utterly brutal”. He said Couzens went “to hunt down a lonely woman to kidnap and rape her”, having planned the crime in great detail, “beyond words”.

Couzens joined the Metropolitan Police in 2018 and was part of a team protecting the diplomatic headquarters in central London. He had worked nights at the American Embassy the day he kidnapped Everard.

Following Couzens’ arrest, it emerged that he had been charged with indecent assault at least twice before the murder of Everard, and police are under investigation to see if he dealt with the allegations correctly.

Violence against women

Everard’s murder has opened a debate on gender-based violence in the UK.

Thousands of women of all ages took to social media to express their sense of insecurity, describing the threats and harassment they had suffered in public and private places and asking politicians to do something.

Boris Johnson’s executive responded by presenting a new strategy to fight street harassment and violence against women, which includes more night patrols, more funding and the creation of a new national police directorate to improve response times to these crimes.

But in mid-June, his government had to apologize for ‘letting down’ thousands of rape victims over the years, after the prosecution reported a drastic drop in convictions for sex offenders and rapists. ., despite the fact that complaints almost doubled compared to 2015-2016.

Immediately after the disappearance, vigils and memorials were improvised in London in honor of Everard, visited even by Catherine, the wife of Prince William, number two in the order of succession to the British throne.

But these gatherings were banned due to the pandemic and its violent dispersion, which led to footage of officers handcuffing protesters to the ground, sparked a new debate on attitude towards women within the London Metropolitan Police.

In July, the Independent Office for Police Conduct announced that it was investigating 12 police officers for issues related to the Couzens case.

“I think what a lot of women are waiting for is ‘we’re sorry and this is what we are doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again,'” 20-year-old student Roxanne Tiffany told AFP. who was demonstrating in court. with a banner that read “Metropolitan police have blood on their hands”.

“I think a lot of women feel pain and anger and mourning yesterday I read the statements from Sarah’s family“He added.

The victim’s mother, Susan Everard, said she was “haunted by horror” during Wednesday’s hearing. “I’m outraged that he played cop to get what he wanted», He underlined.

(With AFP, AP and EFE information)

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