The Metropolitan police officer charged with the kidnap and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard has appeared in person in court.
PC Wayne Couzens, 48, was at Westminster magistrates court on Saturday morning for his first hearing, the start of the process before a full trial for murder, following his arrest on Tuesday at his home in Kent.
Everard, a marketing executive, vanished while walking home from a friend’s flat in south London on 3 March. Her body was found hidden in a builder’s bag in an area of woodland in Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday, and was identified through the use of dental records, the court heard.
Couzens has been remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 16 March. The defendant, wearing a grey tracksuit and appearing to have a wound on the top of his forehead, stood as the charges were put to him.
He spoke only to confirm his name and personal details, sitting between two plainclothes officers in the dock. The court heard that Couzens is accused of kidnapping Everard in the Poynders Road area of Clapham.
The chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, said: “I don’t have the power to consider the question of bail. That will be considered should you wish to make an application to the court on 16 March. You are therefore remanded in custody until that date, both charges having been sent to the crown court.”
The Met previously said Couzens joined the force in 2018, most recently serving in an armed unit responsible for guarding the parliamentary estate and embassies in London.
His main job was uniformed patrol of diplomatic buildings and Scotland Yard said he was not on duty at the time of Everard’s disappearance. He had previously worked at a garage run by his family in Kent, near his home in Deal.
The force said Couzens was taken to hospital for a second time in 48 hours on Friday for treatment on a head injury sustained in custody, before being discharged and returned to a police station. He was treated in hospital on Thursday for a separate head wound, which the Met said was sustained when he was alone in his cell.
