How was Sarah Everard murderer Wayne Couzens allowed to join the police?

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In a damning series of revelations, it emerged that: Police missed eight chances to catch Couzens after people reported incidents of indecent exposure between 2008 and 2021 Multiple victims have come forward since his arrest with allegations including rape, an attempted knifepoint kidnap and a serious sexual assault of a child The inquiry called for a radical overhaul of police vetting and recruitment after finding repeated failures to spot red flags – with three separate police forces permitting him to serve Met Chief Mark Rowley described the report as an “urgent call to action” as he apologised to Ms Everard’s family again open image in gallery Inquiry chair Lady Elish Angiolini has warned there could be another Wayne Couzens hidden in police ranks After the report was published on Thursday, Lady Elish told The Independent of her shock at the scale of the failures, warning there could be another Couzens hidden in plain sight. And, without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight.” open image in gallery Sarah Everard’s family said Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer Couzens was a serving Metropolitan Police officer when he kidnapped, raped and murdered Ms Everard, 33, three years ago as she was walking home in Clapham, south London. “I make a number of recommendations to improve recruitment and vetting – covering everything from in-person interviews, and home visits for new recruits, to improvements for information sharing around transfers.” open image in gallery Police missed eight chances to stop Wayne Couzens before he murdered Sarah Everard Lady Elish added that allegations of indecent exposure were treated as “low level” by investigating officers. “It is truly appalling his history of alleged sexual offending stretches back so many years and yet opportunities to investigate were repeatedly missed, and most disturbing of all, Lady Angiolini says there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight.” Home secretary James Cleverly said Ms Everard’s murder was an act of “pure evil” but insisted it is not a reflection of the majority of dedicated police officers.