Police failure to catch Wayne Couzens for flashing made him feel ‘invincible’ before Sarah Everard murder, judge says
The IndependentFor 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. Read our privacy policy Police officers’ failure to catch Wayne Couzens for flashing women before he murdered Sarah Everard made him feel “invincible”, a judge has said. Delivering her sentence at the Old Bailey, the judge said Couzens “could easily have been traced” after McDonald’s staff gave police his car registration and credit card details on 28 February 2021. Wayne Couzens exposed himself to a number of women in the months before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard “All offences are very seriously aggravated by the fact that the defendant was a serving police officer at the time, being a constable in the Metropolitan Police and a member of the Diplomatic Protection Group,” she added. “My thoughts today are with all those targeted by Couzens and Ms Everard’s family.” Tributes paid to Sarah Everard at Clapham Common vigil Show all 36 The Independent Office for Police Conduct found that the Metropolitan Police constable who handled the McDonald’s report allegedly “breached police standards … for alleged failings over the way inquiries were progressed”, but resigned last year and can face no sanction.