UK policeman in elite unit charged with murder of woman

LONDON – London police yesterday charged a fellow officer with kidnap and murder, hours after confirming a body discovered in a woodland was that of a missing woman in a high-profile case that has shocked Britain.

Wayne Couzens, 48, a serving officer in the Metropolitan Police’s elite diplomatic protection unit, was charged with killing marketing executive Sarah Everard, 33, the force said.

Everard vanished while walking home in south London on the evening of March 3, with Couzens’ arrest a week later sending shockwaves through the Met and wider public, triggering an angry debate about women’s safety.

“Following a referral of evidence by the Metropolitan Police related to the death of Sarah Everard, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised police to charge Couzens with murder and kidnapping,” Rosemary Ainslie, of the CPS, said in a statement.

Couzens, who was first arrested late Tuesday in Kent, southeast England – where he lives and Everand’s remains were found the following day – is due to appear today at Westminster magistrates’ court.

His charging came several hours after police confirmed that the body found in an area of woodland in Ashford, Kent, late Wednesday had been identified as Everard.

Officials also revealed Couzens had again been admitted to hospital yesterday with a head injury, a day after being briefly hospitalised for a similar injury sustained while “alone in his cell”.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, a watchdog dealing with policing complaints, is probing the Met’s handling of the case, including how Couzens ended up requiring hospital treatment.

The watchdog has said it will also probe whether Met officers responded appropriately to an accusation of indecent exposure against him, which occurred several days before Everard disappeared.

He was alleged to have twice exposed himself at a south London fast food restaurant on February 28.

Police said their investigation remain ongoing, and is “drawing on expertise and skills from hundreds of colleagues across the Met”. – AFP, March 13, 2021