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

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Sturman is now arguing about whether Couzens posing as a police officer (when he was a police officer) should not be treated as an aggravating factor deserving of Whole Life #SarahEverard

https://twitter.com/totalcrime/status/1443505212736557058?s=21

A police officer is never off-duty. At the time of duping Sarah he was a police officer but using his warranted powers unlawfully and intentionally for the purpose of committing the worst offences against Sarah Everard, a good, kind and loving woman.
 
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I agree, but that isn't the law - at the moment.....

https://twitter.com/davidallengreen/status/1443469893513490437

"In essence: the murderer of a police officer will face a whole-life sentence, while a police officer using their power of arrest and their office for a murder will not"

Does anyone know if this also applies to police officers off-duty?

ETA: good points raised upthread about officers being able to exercise powers off duty, so seems this distinction in the law (off and on duty) is not required. Does seem imbalanced though that the role of police officer can be a mitigating factor.
 
I can’t believe that this wasn’t a premeditated murder. If he intended to rape her and release her he wouldn’t have driven so far. He made no attempts to conceal his identity from her, which he would have done if he knew she would be alive to identity him.

Does anyone know if the burden of proof is the same for sentencing as it is for a jury verdict?
 
I'm not a lawyer so can't really help i'm afraid. I guess as this is unprecedented there isn’t any distinction? Of course “being on duty” and duping an arrest is heinous

Thanks, your post and my edit crossed in the ether, but I edited to add that Whitehall and Infinit raised good points about the fact that an off duty officer can exercise their powers, and so perhaps the distinction doesn’t exist because it doesn’t need to.
 
I reckon it could have been because he wanted a reason for being there on the future occasions when he made visits.. could state truthfully that he'd lost his watch or something while visiting with his family a few days beforehand, his family would confirm they had all been there... he has an excuse.

But psychologically shows he has no empathy for their feelings and if you were a child and his happened to you, you would be damaged forever. JMO MOO
 
Telegraph (a bit later than the Twitter correspondent!)
10:36am
Couzens described as 'calm and friendly' by colleagues


Jim Sturman QC said of Couzens, that "he appears to have been living a law-abiding life with a loving family".

He was described as colleagues in the police who knew him well as "calm and friendly".
 
Does anyone know if this also applies to police officers off-duty?

ETA: good points raised upthread about officers being able to exercise powers off duty, so seems this distinction in the law (off and on duty) is not required. Does seem imbalanced though that the role of police officer can be a mitigating factor.

Police Officer's can place themselves on duty at any time, if the need arises. If they are acting as such and have identified themselves or it is obvious they are a police officer then the sentencing guidelines for a whole life tariff would apply.

UPDATE

I can not find a case of a conviction for the murder of an off-duty officer in England and Wales since 13th April 2015, when this amendment was applied to the whole life tariff.
 
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Telegraph
10:40am
Couzens family remain 'staggered' by killer's crimes


Jim Sturman QC said Couzens' family remain "staggered that the man they loved" committed the "evil and wicked" crimes that he did.

It was a mystery to the Couzens that he had done what he's done, the defence counsel said.

He added that "years of therapy" might be able to help unlock what he did.
 
On a lighter note, I get the distinct feeling that cat hated him.
Cat walked into the room but went to one of the strangers first, then popped itself up on the shelf to stare at the murderer. Uncanny.
Sarah Everard: Police bodycam footage shows how Wayne Couzens spun desperate web of lies | Daily Mail Online

Are you saying he might be a cat or animal torchurer? I can't remember if they caught the UK cat and rabbit torchurer and murderer yet or not. JMO MOO
 
Telegraph
10:44am
Couzens did not play the system, says defence


Jim Sturman QC, defending, insisted that Wayne Couzens' knowledge as a police officer could have have been used to "pull the wool over the jury's eyes" in a trial.

But he said: "He did not play the system'
 
Telegraph
10:40am
Couzens family remain 'staggered' by killer's crimes


Jim Sturman QC said Couzens' family remain "staggered that the man they loved" committed the "evil and wicked" crimes that he did.

It was a mystery to the Couzens that he had done what he's done, the defence counsel said.

He added that "years of therapy" might be able to help unlock what he did.

There's a part in there that say his colleagues found to have nothing untoward about him yet in back of my mind, when this first happened I remember discussion in this thread about previous female colleagues having a problem with him. Unless I'm confused I'm sure I read this somewhere. Does anyone have a link? JMO MOO
 
Telegraph
10:47am
Couzens couldn't look at family because he was ashamed, defence says


Closing his defence statement, Mr Sturman said that it was telling when the Everard family asked Couzens to look at them in court yesterday, he couldn't.

"He is ashamed," he said.

Mr Sturman said: "He deserves a very lengthy finite term, but he did all he could after his arrest to minimise the wicked hard he has done, and that is a reason to draw back from what the prosecution has invited you to do."
(I assume 'hard' is a typo for 'harm'.)
 
A Police Officer can place themself on duty at any time, if the need arises. If they are acting as such and have identified themselves or it is obvious they are a police officer then the sentencing guidelines for a whole life tariff would apply.

I recall a case when an 'off-duty' officer was killed in a one-punch disturbance on a night out not that long ago. The sentencing guidelines for whole life tariff did not apply in that case as the victim was not acting as a police officer at the time.

Thanks for the response Whitehall, that is interesting. It does seem like there should be a consideration for the lawfulness of the acting as an on-duty police officer then, whether becoming on duty from previously being off duty, or indeed already being on duty.

If the officer does not identify themselves as becoming or being on duty (such as the victim in your example case) or does, but for unlawful means (such as WC), then the mitigation it brings with it should be disregarded, whether the officer was a victim or perpetrator.

These finer nuances may already be in the law, but didn’t appear to be in the snippets posted by the Twitter account posted upthread.
 
Telegraph
10:40am
Couzens family remain 'staggered' by killer's crimes


Jim Sturman QC said Couzens' family remain "staggered that the man they loved" committed the "evil and wicked" crimes that he did.

It was a mystery to the Couzens that he had done what he's done, the defence counsel said.

He added that "years of therapy" might be able to help unlock what he did.


I hope that the cost of years of therapy is not wasted on him ,but spent on his victims,including his own children.
 
Telegraph
10:44am
Couzens did not play the system, says defence


Jim Sturman QC, defending, insisted that Wayne Couzens' knowledge as a police officer could have have been used to "pull the wool over the jury's eyes" in a trial.

But he said: "He did not play the system'

this, as well as:

“Mr Sturman said: "He deserves a very lengthy finite term, but he did all he could after his arrest to minimise the wicked hard he has done, and that is a reason to draw back from what the prosecution has invited you to do."

Genuinely, to me, reads as sarcasm.
 
Telegraph (catching up with the Twitter post of about half an hour ago!)
10:48am
Couzens led from the dock


With that, Lord Justice Fulford retired to consider sentencing.

Wayne Couzens, head bowed and hands held together across his front, trudged out of the dock.

He will learn his fate at 11.30am.
 
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