Murder of Sarah Everard

Sarah Everard was a 33-year-old marketing executive who lived in the Brixton Hill area of south London. On the evening of 3 March 2021, she left a friend's home near Clapham Common and set out to walk home. She did not arrive, and her disappearance prompted one of the most widely publicised missing-person investigations in recent British history.

Everard was stopped by Wayne Couzens, at the time a serving constable with the Metropolitan Police's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection command. Using his police warrant card and citing coronavirus regulations then in force, Couzens carried out a false arrest, handcuffing Everard and detaining her on a fabricated pretext. He drove her from London to Kent, where he raped and killed her before disposing of her remains in woodland near Ashford.

A search operation led investigators to Couzens, who was arrested at his home in Deal, Kent, on 9 March 2021, initially on suspicion of kidnapping. Everard's remains were discovered the following day, and Couzens was further arrested on suspicion of murder. He was charged with kidnapping and murder on 12 March 2021. When first questioned, he falsely claimed he had been coerced by others; the prosecution demonstrated that he had planned the offence in advance and had taken steps afterwards to conceal it.

Couzens pleaded guilty to kidnapping and rape on 8 June 2021 and to murder on 9 July 2021. On 30 September 2021, at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order, meaning he will never be eligible for release. The sentencing judge found that Couzens had used his position and authority as a police officer to detain Everard on a false pretext, and that this abuse of a public office was central to the exceptional gravity of the case. Couzens challenged the sentence, but the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in July 2022.

The case had a profound public impact in the United Kingdom, prompting national debate about women's safety and about trust in policing. Because the perpetrator was a serving police officer who exploited the powers of his office to commit the crime, questions were raised about police vetting and culture. A public inquiry, chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini, was established to examine how Couzens came to be employed and retained as an officer; its first report, published in February 2024, identified failures in the vetting and handling of earlier allegations against him.

Sarah Everard is remembered by her family and by many members of the public who were moved by her death. Her family stated that, while nothing could undo their loss, the knowledge that her killer would remain imprisoned brought a measure of relief.