Warning: This story contains graphic content which may disturb some readers.
Sarah Everard was murdered on the evening on March 3rd in London, after being pulled over by a police officer.
That officer, 48-year-old Wayne Couzens, went on to kidnap, rape and murder 33-year-old Sarah in cold blood.
Six months after the disturbing and heinous crime, Couzens had his day in court after pleading guilty in July.
The in court room was Sarah’s parents and sister, who demanded that Couzens face them as they read out their devastating victim impacts statements to the court.
“Sarah died in horrendous circumstances,” Sarah’s mother, Susan Everard, told the court.
“I am tormented at the thought of what she endured.”
“In her last hours she was faced with brutality and terror, alone with someone intent on doing her harm.”
“The thought of it is unbearable – I am haunted by the horror of it.”
Sarah’s father Jeremy said he would never forgive Couzens for what he did to his daughter.
“The horrendous murder of my daughter, Sarah, is in my mind all the time and will be for the rest of my life,” he said.
“Sarah was handcuffed and unable to defend herself. This preys on my mind all the time.”
“I can never forgive you for what you have done, for taking Sarah away from us.”
Before Couzens’ sentencing began, Metropolitan Police, who Couzens had worked for at the time of Sarah’s murder, released a statement saying the force was “sickened, angered and devastated” by his crimes and that he betrayed “everything we stand for”.
On the night of Sarah’s murder, Couzens’ had stopped Sarah as she was walking home from a friend’s house in the south London borough of Clapham.
While off duty, Couzens stopped her under the guise of her breaching COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown rules, when he then handcuffed Sarah and put her in the car.
After he brutally raped and killed the innocent woman, he strangled her with his police belt sometime before 2:30am.
He later burned her body and clothes inside an old refrigerator before putting her remains inside builders’ bags and dumping them.
Her body was found in woodland in Ashford, Kent, about 100 kilometres south-east of London, a week after she went missing.
While in London’s Old Bailey court, prosecutor Tom Little condemned his actions.
“His movements were consistent with the defendant looking for, or hunting, for a lone young female to kidnap and rape, which is precisely what he did.”
Image credit: Metropolitan Police
