GUILTY UK - Sarah Everard, 33, London, Clapham Common area, 3 Mar 2021 *Life sentence* #16

[LucyRocket]

The only thing she could have done was try running when they changed vehicles or even scream if she got a chance by the sound she did not get a chance in a sad way she was sort of doomed as soon has he put the handcuffs on her - It would have been interesting if another police car had passed the road when he was arresting her

In fact, I think it did

 

[LucyRocket]

I'd be looking as the cell site data for Sarah's phone. I may have been switched off as she was abducted or the SIM card removed, but it's rough last known position using triangulation could have been identifed. Phones with similar triangulation strengths at the same time could be be identified and then manual checks done to identify subscribers - trace, interview, eliminate to find the possible suspects or do more unobtrusive enquiries first to find key suspects.

If Sarah's phone was not switched off immediately then it could possibly be matched to vehicles on CCTV and ANPR travelling a similar route.

Painstaking work but that's what serious crime investigators are well versed in.

Fortunately the eye-witness and bus CCTV prevented having to do all that legwork.

Although it might have given an idea of when he took her phone from her. A minor detail, but being as her parents have few details, they might have appreciated that.

 

[Dotta]

I once read that the best form of defence is to make oneself as troublesome to the attacker as possible.

Shouting, biting, kicking is obligatory. You are fighting for your life!

The more racket you make, the better.
Pretend you have a fit of epilepsy, etc

In other words - make trouble!
The attacker might give up.

Next thing - make yourself undesirable : peeing, pooping (sorry)

Never let yourself be taken to the next location - it usually means death.

 

[Pally]

What are YOUR rights if cop stops you on street? | Daily Mail Online

As a mother of a teenage son and daughter. This really does make my blood boil.

As in the instance of poor Sarah. Do they suppose that in the fear that something will happen to them or being arrested, they will calmly ask a lone 'police officer' on a darkened street to give them radio information or trust that they would call 'colleagues'?

Would they run in the hopes of meeting someone to support them in lockdown and risk resisting arrest? No!

By the time they could potentially call 999, it's too late!

 

[Sherlockhames]

Do you think police can access mobile phones which ping close to the scene of a serious crime?
Like, just pull up a list of all mobiles pinging close to Poynders Rd at 9.30pm 3rd March


I still find it unfathomable that a police officer with nearly 20 years experience couldn't come up with a more thorough plan.

Could GCHQ track all mobiles that were in the Poynders Rd area at 9.30 pm maybe?
He left his phone on the entire time also.

Do people think it's possible that he was stalking a specific woman that he was looking for that night, but he couldn't find her so went for Sarah instead?

He started in Kensington to Earls Court onto Battersea Bridge, then circled back. Maybe he was stalking a certain he's seen along that road at that time.

Or did he pick Sarah cos she looked young and therefore more gullible? She looks more like a teenager in those clothes.

Anyway, it's horrific and I hope her family have some sort of closure at least.

Someone with more knowledge me might be able to tell you. But my understanding is that the masts have a record of who is “pinging” and at what time. I would suggest though this wouldn’t be the first route to go down as there would be thousands of phones pinging onto the mast on Clarence Avenue as it is a massively residential area. But if he was then a suspect and claimed he wasn’t in the area, but his number did attach to the mast then that would start the trail. Of course he could still say he was driving past for entirely innocent reasons. But it would have to be good old fashioned police work/instinct that would lead to police following a bit more a trail. And as his story failed to pan out, they would inevitably be drawn to ask more questions. The issue would be, slightly needle in a haystack as if there were potentially 50-100 other cars it could have conceivably been then that is a lot of shoe-leather. But with and eye-witness coming forward saying they saw a young woman “being arrested” at around the spot she went missing (once they could establish that) then I think the net would have closed quite quickly.

 

[Whitehall 1212]

I agree. This whole-life tariff has been decided by one judge and as it's a precedent, should be looked at by other judges too.

It's usually given for more than one victim, terrorist attacks, killing of police or prison officers or torture then murder of children. The judge can also give it out if he/she feels the crime is at least as bad as one or more of those listed.

Lord Justice Fulford is somewhat the top of the tree:

Investigatory Powers Commissioner - Incumbent
Lord Justice of Appeal - Incumbent
Judge of the International Criminal Court - 11/3/03 - 11/3/12
Justice of the High Court of Justice - Incumbent

I'm guessing his assessment of 'exceptionally high' in terms of seriousness will be about spot on.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Has it been said where he first saw her and started following?

We see her captured at 9.28 walking down Cavendish Road, and then him in car 3 minutes later. So did he see her on that road first, before nearer the Common, or simply just when she was on Poynders Road?

Watching her walking along, you just can't help wishing that she had lived just along there then she would have got indoors and this would never have happened - to her at least. But he was out with a purpose and if it hadn't have been her that night it would likely have been some other poor girl.

 

[Newthoughts]

You could only have one household as your bubble though. Hers would have been with her boyfriend or family.
She could have visited her friend as long as they stayed outside, unlikely on a cold winter night.
One does wonder how he would have dealt with someone who had stayed firmly within the rules.

Yes - she most likely had breached lockdown or thought she had - which is only relevant that it would have made her more vulnerable to his fraud.

I recall being very jittery about driving for twenty mins to be able to just go for a different walk. Friends who lived in tourist towns told me the police were questioning people in their local car parks so I was incredibly jittery. In a serving police officer with a warrant had told me I was going to be questioned I'd have complied fully. If they'd asked me the same in my local area I'd have told them I was well within the guidelines.

 

[Ched]

It was while working for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which he joined in 2011, that Couzens was given the nickname "the rapist" by fellow officers because of the way he behaved towards female colleagues.

He reportedly "gave women the creeps" but, in the male-dominated world of policing, none of the women made a formal complaint against him.

Since his arrest, several women have come forward to make historic allegations of harassment against him, and the Home Secretary is now under pressure to order a review of whistleblowing protocols in all police forces.

He warned that police officers were failing to raise concerns about colleagues and blamed a "culture of colleague protection" within the service, adding: "In too many respects, there is evidence of police officers who become aware of damaging or worrying characteristics in police officers of not reporting them, not putting up a warning flag, and that needs to change."


Couzens is now known to have repeatedly exposed himself while driving – an offence which would almost certainly have ended his police career if it had been detected at the time.

In June 2015, a male motorist made a complaint to police that he had seen a man driving around Dover naked from the waist down. This time it was Kent Police that had a golden opportunity to root out the future murderer but, once again, he slipped through the net.
Couzens was identified as the suspect, but for reasons that remain unclear he was not arrested and his then employer, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, was not informed. Kent Police marked the investigation as "no further action".
The incident only came to light when it was disclosed earlier this year by the IOPC, which is investigating alleged failures in the case after Kent Police referred itself to the watchdog.


Couzens gave police one more chance to catch him when he returned to his habit of flashing just days before he murdered Miss Everard.

On Feb 28, a member of staff at a McDonald's drive-thru in Swanley, Kent, called the police to report a man in a car who was naked from the waist down. Female members of staff are understood to have seen him do the same thing the previous day. CCTV clearly showed Couzens' car, but he was not arrested.

The Met said on Thursday that the complaint was correctly recorded and allocated to an officer for investigation but inquiries had not been concluded by March 3, the day Miss Everard was kidnapped.

The force also confirmed that it had identified the vehicle shown on the McDonald's CCTV but that Couzens had not been identified as the registered owner before he raped Miss Everard and disposed of her body in the same car. Two officers from the Metropolitan Police, which covers Swanley, are being investigated by the IOPC for possible breaches of professional standards that may amount to misconduct.

The police blunders that left Wayne Couzens free to murder Sarah Everard

 

[CuriousObserver1]

In fact, I think it did

I thought a police car drove passed her shortly before she reached WC, but the other CCTV/dashcam of them standing by the road were from buses/other private cars.

 

[Rusty Braincells]

It was while working for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which he joined in 2011, that Couzens was given the nickname "the rapist" by fellow officers because of the way he behaved towards female colleagues.

He reportedly "gave women the creeps" but, in the male-dominated world of policing, none of the women made a formal complaint against him.

Since his arrest, several women have come forward to make historic allegations of harassment against him, and the Home Secretary is now under pressure to order a review of whistleblowing protocols in all police forces.

He warned that police officers were failing to raise concerns about colleagues and blamed a "culture of colleague protection" within the service, adding: "In too many respects, there is evidence of police officers who become aware of damaging or worrying characteristics in police officers of not reporting them, not putting up a warning flag, and that needs to change."


Couzens is now known to have repeatedly exposed himself while driving – an offence which would almost certainly have ended his police career if it had been detected at the time.

In June 2015, a male motorist made a complaint to police that he had seen a man driving around Dover naked from the waist down. This time it was Kent Police that had a golden opportunity to root out the future murderer but, once again, he slipped through the net.
Couzens was identified as the suspect, but for reasons that remain unclear he was not arrested and his then employer, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, was not informed. Kent Police marked the investigation as "no further action".
The incident only came to light when it was disclosed earlier this year by the IOPC, which is investigating alleged failures in the case after Kent Police referred itself to the watchdog.


Couzens gave police one more chance to catch him when he returned to his habit of flashing just days before he murdered Miss Everard.

On Feb 28, a member of staff at a McDonald's drive-thru in Swanley, Kent, called the police to report a man in a car who was naked from the waist down. Female members of staff are understood to have seen him do the same thing the previous day. CCTV clearly showed Couzens' car, but he was not arrested.

The Met said on Thursday that the complaint was correctly recorded and allocated to an officer for investigation but inquiries had not been concluded by March 3, the day Miss Everard was kidnapped.

The force also confirmed that it had identified the vehicle shown on the McDonald's CCTV but that Couzens had not been identified as the registered owner before he raped Miss Everard and disposed of her body in the same car. Two officers from the Metropolitan Police, which covers Swanley, are being investigated by the IOPC for possible breaches of professional standards that may amount to misconduct.

The police blunders that left Wayne Couzens free to murder Sarah Everard

This adds some context to the “oh dear, he shouldn’t have been a police officer and we don’t consider him one!!” stuff from some of his colleagues. Nothing was done about Couzens. No point saying he wasn’t really one of the police now.

I also saw that some of Couzens’s colleagues said supportive things about him. https://twitter.com/edmcconnellkm/status/1443528995014840321?s=21

So forgive me if I don’t really trust anything the police say about all this at this point.

I am grateful for the work the police who caught him did, but Couzens left a huge trail of breadcrumbs to follow and wasn’t hard to catch.

 

[Seattle1]

What are whole-life orders and which killers have received them? | ITV News

9/30/21

Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens will never be released from prison after kidnapping, raping and murdering 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard.After the judge told the 48-year-old he would die behind bars and would not be considered for release, Ms Everard's grieving family said "the world is a safer place with him imprisoned".

Sentencing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Lord Justice Fulford said the severity of the case was so "exceptionally high" it warranted a whole life order.

Couzens, who used his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card and handcuffs to abduct Ms Everard, will now join a list of the country's most dangerous offenders who are expected to die behind bars.

So, what is a whole-life order and how does a judge determine who receives the most severe punishment available in the UK criminal justice system?

What are whole-life orders?

Whole-life orders are the most severe punishment available in the UK for those who commit the most serious crimes.

There are 60 criminals serving whole life orders, according to Ministry of Justice figures to the end of June.

They will never be considered for release, unless there are exceptional compassionate grounds to warrant it.

Convicted criminals must be at least 21 to receive a whole-life order.

Which criminals have received whole-life orders?

Milly Dowler’s killer, Levi Bellfield, is thought to be the only criminal in UK legal history to be serving two whole-life orders – for her murder, the killings of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.

Milly Dowler was abducted and killed by BellfieldCredit: Surrey Police/PA
Other notorious criminals serving whole-life orders include:

• Serial killer Rose West
  
  
• Michael Adebolajo, one of Fusilier Lee Rigby’s killers
  
  
• Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April Jones in Wales
  
  
• Neo-Nazi Thomas Mair, who killed MP Jo Cox
  
  
• Grindr serial killer Stephen Port
  
  
• Reading terror attacker Khairi Saadallah, who murdered three men in a park

Before they died, Moors murderer Ian Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, and doctor Harold Shipman – thought to be one of Britain’s most prolific serial killers – were also among those serving whole-life orders.

Rose West is thought to be one of only three women to have been given a whole-life order when she was jailed for 10 murdersCredit: PA

Are there plans for whole-life orders to be reformed in the future?

In the past, home secretaries could issue whole-life tariffs - but these are now determined by judges.

Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, the government is trying to expand the use of whole-life orders for the premeditated murder of a child.

The reforms would also allow judges to hand out the maximum sentence to 18 to 20-year-olds in exceptional cases, such as for acts of terrorism leading to mass loss of life.

 

[L White]

I'd be interested to know if he knew he was going to be investigated about the flashing incident and had then thought he had nothing more to lose by committing this horrible crime. Surely he would have known he was on borrowed time if he had been asked about it.

 

[Rusty Braincells]

I'd be interested to know if he knew he was going to be investigated about the flashing incident and had then thought he had nothing more to lose by committing this horrible crime. Surely he would have known he was on borrowed time if he had been asked about it.

Someone may have the link, but Couzens was not being formally investigated for that incident at the time he killed Sarah. He may have thought the dots would be joined up, and the police may have got around to it in the end although given a previous incident in 2015 hadn’t gone anywhere, I am unconvinced, but he had not been confronted about that incident (otherwise he may well have been formally suspended from duty, which he was not, when he killed Sarah).

I believe Couzens was not out of control, not a man who felt he had nothing to lose. He was simply arrogant, selfish and stupid.

 

[CuriousObserver1]

Chilling images show how blood was found on front and rear seats and boot of Wayne Couzens' car | Daily Mail Online

I read his car did not look clean/new enough to be a police car which can be seen from the photos in the article, this article says: "He hired a Vauxhall Crossland from a rental garage after plotting for over a month, because the car looked similar to an undercover police car."

 

[Ched]

Wayne Couzens: Met Police faces questions over how cop nicknamed 'The Rapist' became armed officer | Daily Mail Online
Police scramble to defend themselves over Sarah Everard: Met says they could NOT have stopped Wayne Couzens from murdering the 33-year-old but point finger at Kent force for not properly investigating report of indecent exposure

The court heard he used prostitutes and had a fake Match.com dating profile despite being married with two children and in 2018, it has been claimed he was reported to bosses for slapping a female police officer's bottom at Bromley police station. It appears no action was taken, a source claimed.

While at Bromley, it is also alleged he became the subject of gossip for only stopping female motorists - before taking their details so he could watch their homes - and parking outside schools to leer at mothers and sixth formers.

 

[Seattle1]

Police clamping down on Covid breaches had been widely publicised (and even criticised for being too heavy) so she may have not seen it as out of the ordinary to be handcuffed. Also I think in the court comments it was said the Judge and/or CPS said they think she must have been threatened.

There were witnesses alleged to have seen SE handcuffed by WC. I can't imagine being handcuffed for a civil offense -- let alone taken away in an unmarked vehicle. I cannot imagine the fear and agony SE must have experienced. I agree with SE's sister -- I also hope she was in utter shock and remained so where she could not process.

 

[Marysmith]

Wayne Couzens: Met Police faces questions over how cop nicknamed 'The Rapist' became armed officer | Daily Mail Online
Police scramble to defend themselves over Sarah Everard: Met says they could NOT have stopped Wayne Couzens from murdering the 33-year-old but point finger at Kent force for not properly investigating report of indecent exposure

The court heard he used prostitutes and had a fake Match.com dating profile despite being married with two children and in 2018, it has been claimed he was reported to bosses for slapping a female police officer's bottom at Bromley police station. It appears no action was taken, a source claimed.

While at Bromley, it is also alleged he became the subject of gossip for only stopping female motorists - before taking their details so he could watch their homes - and parking outside schools to leer at mothers and sixth formers.

WHAT to the last paragraph?! Seriously? If that’s a fact wow.

 

[Sarahlou]

WHAT to the last paragraph?! Seriously? If that’s a fact wow.

Yeah what on earth?! Why were so many red flags about this man ignored?

 

[Ched]

There was so much smoke that was all ignored . I hope any work colleague after reading this will have the courage to speak out to their employers.