Wayne Couzens sentenced to full-life term for kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard
A police officer who murdered Sarah Everard with his police belt after kidnapping her under the false pretence of an arrest for breaking Covid lockdown rules has been jailed for a full-life term – meaning he will die in prison.
Wayne Couzens, 48, used his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card and handcuffs to snatch Ms Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London on the evening of 3 March.
Couzens raped and strangled the 33-year-old marketing executive before burning her body. He pleaded guilty in July to her kidnap, rape and murder.
Sentencing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Lord Justice Fulford described the circumstances of the murder as “grotesque”.
Dame Cressida Dick, the Met Police commissioner, said Couzens had “brought shame” on the force in a statement read aloud outside the court.
