Met Police sorry Couzens not arrested for indecent exposure

1. Wayne Couzens is sentenced to 19 months in prison for exposing himself on three occasions - one of those was just days before he killed Sarah Everard
2. The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not arresting Couzens for indecent exposure, which may have stopped him murdering Sarah Everard
3. The former Met Police officer, 50, is already serving a whole-life sentence for murdering Everard in March 2021
4. He has admitted exposing himself three times in Kent - twice at a fast-food restaurant in February 2021 and another in woodland in 2020
5. A cyclist who encountered Couzens in a woodland in Deal tells the court the "horror of what happened will remain with me for the rest of my life"
6. The judge praises the victims' "courage and resilience" in coming forward
7. The new sentence will make no difference to the existing whole-life sentence from which Couzens will never be released

We are ending our coverage

We are ending our coverage of the sentencing of former Met police officer Wayne Couzens for indecent exposure. Here's a recap of what happened:

• Couzens was sentenced to 19 months in prison for exposing himself on three separate occasions in Kent. One of the incidents took place just a few days before the murder of Sarah Everard
• The new sentence does not change Couzens' existing whole-life sentence for Everard's murder

• In today's ruling, Mrs Justice May said the police's failure to investigate the victim reports of indecent exposure may have emboldened Couzens to carry out the murder

• Solace women's charity said it was "furious" at the police's lack of action, adding that the ruling showed the police "missed opportunities" to follow up on victim reports, which it said "might have saved Sarah's life"

• The Met Police has apologised for not arresting Couzens for indecent exposure

• After the sentencing, the Independent Office for Police Conduct released a report about their investigation concerning a WhatsApp group which Wayne Couzens was part of. Some of the messages had not been made public before because of ongoing criminal proceedings investigating Couzens.

Today's page was edited by Jamie Whitehead, Nathan Williams, Heather Sharp and Alexandra Fouché. Our writers were Rachel Russel, James Harness, George Wright, André Rhoden-Paul, Jack Burgess, Laura Gozzi and Alys Davies.

Watch: 'We could have done more'

We could have done more... and we will do more - Met police

Female MPs blast police failings over Couzens

Female MPs have criticised the police for failing to stop Couzens before he went onto to kill Sarah Everard.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour's MP for Streatham, tweeted: "Multiple women reported Sarah Everard's killer for indecent exposure.

"The police’s failure to listen and act left him free to kill...

"The culture of impunity towards officers who commit crimes must end."

Mary Foy, Labour MP for City of Durham, said in a post: "This sentence does nothing to cover for the amount of failings of the Met when it comes to Wayne Couzens and his disturbing behaviour prior to the horrendous murder of Sarah Everard.

"I truly hope lessons have been learned. This cannot happen again!"

Drive-through footage shows car registration

Helena Wilkinson

Reporting from the Old Bailey

Met Police

The CCTV footge released by the Metropolitan Police shows two incidents in which Couzens drives his Seat car into the drive-through McDonald's in Swanley.

For the second, the date is 27 February 2021. Couzens had just finished a 12-hour shift in London and was heading home.

You can first see Couzens stop the car to place an order using an intercom.

The registration number of the vehicle can be seen.

He then moves to the payment window using his Mastercard, the same one he used during the previous offence at the same drive-through.

Not seen on the CCTV released, Couzens then drives towards the collection window where he indecently exposes himself to a female member of staff as she hands over part of his order.

She immediately informed her manager who said the customer had done it before, and took the order over from her.

A telephone call was made to police the following day, by the manager, passing on the registration number and the last four digits of the Mastercard.

But we heard today in court that Couzens was not spoken to about his behaviour until after the kidnapping of Sarah Everard.

Met Police

WATCH: CCTV captures moments Couzens visits drive-through

CCTV captures moments Couzens visits drive-through

The Metropolitan Police have released footage of Wayne Couzens visiting a McDonald's drive-through in February 2021.

The footage shows a car with the number plate AF12 XXW visiting the fast-food restaurant in Swanley, Kent on two separate occasions.

It was there that Couzens indecently exposed himself twice. The other incident was in a woodland in Deal.

How did Couzens use his police status to trick Everard?

As we reported earlier, it's unlikely that Couzens would have continued as a police officer if he had been arrested or sentenced for the indecent exposure crimes he has been sentenced for today.

And that means he would not have been able to use his position to trick Sarah Everard into getting into his car, abducting her as she walked home from a friend's house in Clapham on 3 March 2021.

Details of how he did this were made public at the sentencing hearing for her murder.

Couzens handcuffed her as he pretended to arrest her for breaching Covid guidelines.

He showed his warrant card before restraining Everard, 33, putting her in his hire car and driving away.

The 48-year-old had worked on Covid patrols in January, the court heard, and so would have known the appropriate formal terms regarding potential breaches.

A former long-term boyfriend said Everard was "extremely intelligent, savvy and streetwise" and said he could not envisage her getting into a car with someone she did not know "unless by force or manipulation", the court was also told.

We could have done more - Met Police

Lucy Manning

Special Correspondent reporting from Scotland Yard

PA Media

The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy has told me there were missed opportunities to stop Wayne Couzens.

On the failure to properly investigate indecent exposures, Cundy admitted: "It's fair to say we could have done more and we will do more."

The failure to stop Couzens meant he was left free as a police officer to use his powers and equipment against Sarah.

He said:

I am sorry for the Sarah Everard family.

I can't imagine what must be going through their minds today and my thoughts are with them and all those Wayne Couzens targeted."

We are furious - Solace women's charity

"We are furious" - that's the reaction of one women's charity after the sentencing of Wayne Couzens earlier today.

Writing in a tweet, Solace Women's Aid said it agreed with the judge's findings concerning the lack of follow through from the police after incidents of indecent exposure were reported by victims.

"We are furious and we agree with judge Mrs Justice May on her sentencing of Wayne Couzens today," it said.

Solace said in a statement that it is important for Couzens to face justice for further crimes, "not only because these are not victimless crimes and the women he assaulted or abused need to know that their voices have been heard and that action has been taken".

"But also, because this shows us loud and clear that there were missed opportunities by the police that if followed up at the time might have saved Sarah’s life."

It is unusual to go from no criminal activity to abduction and murder, the group said.

"So it is vital that the police take any complaints about sexual misconduct, indecent exposure or abuse seriously and enforce the law quickly," it added.

"This should be no different when the offender is a police officer."

Women did their duty, but police ignored their reports - lawyers

In other reaction to Couzens' sentencing, lawyer Dr Ann Olivarius, who specialises in cases of discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, blames the police for "ignoring" reports of Couzens' indecent exposure.

"Women did their duty and reported Couzens," Olivarius writes on Twitter. "It was his police colleagues who stayed so very obliging and accommodating to him, by ignoring those reports and ignoring his horrific statements." The Metropolitan Police has apologised for not arresting Couzens for indecent exposure.

Another lawyer, Harriet Johnson, who has written a book about violence against women, writes in tweet: For so many of the women I represent who are failed by police, the anger is not just at the unfairness of what's happened to them: it's about what happens when he does it again.

WATCH: One victim spoke of survivor's guilt

Lack of police action strengthened Couzens' belief in his invincibility, says judge

In their statements, Couzens' victims speak of their vulnerability, and of having their security taken from them, the judge said.

One woman speaks of a sense of "survivor's guilt", after learning who had committed the crime and what he went on to do.

The fact no police questioned Couzens about the exposure incidents, can only have confirmed and strengthened in his mind "a dangerous belief in his invincibility", the judge added.

Met Police sorry Couzens wasn't arrested sooner

The Metropolitan Police Service has said he recognises the "hurt and trauma" inflicted by Wayne Couzens on the victims of his indecent exposure crimes.

Deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy says he is "sorry for what they have gone through".

He adds: "Like so many, I wish he had been arrested for these offences before he went on to kidnap, rape and murder Sarah Everard and I am sorry that he wasn’t.

"The Met’s response to these crimes has been independently investigated," he says.

He goes on to say a police officer is due to face a misconduct hearing over the matter and the events surrounding Sarah Everard's death will be examined by the coroner.

He says the fact that Couzens commited his crimes whilst serving as a police officer "has brought shame on all us who swore to protect the communities we serve".

Watchdog releases offensive WhatsApps sent by Couzens and others

Helena Wilkinson

Reporting from the Old Bailey

We’ve been sent a report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct about their investigation concerning a WhatsApp group which Wayne Couzens was a part of.

Because of the ongoing criminal proceedings investigating Couzens’ indecent exposure offences, some of the messages had not been seen publicly before.

Some are too offensive to publish here.

They show Couzens making derogatory comments about women, victims of domestic violence and racially diverse areas of London.

The IOPC investigation began after a download of Couzens’ phone following his arrest in relation to Sarah Everard revealed evidence of a WhatsApp group involving six other Metropolitan Police officers.

The police watchdog said messages contained “racist and homophobic comments, and derogatory remarks, aimed at domestic abuse victims, people with disablites and women”.

As a result of the investigation in September 2022, Metropolitan Police officers Joel Borders and Jonathan Cobban were convicted of offences under the Communications Act 2003 and received prison sentences.

They and four other serving or former officers also faced gross misconduct proceedings resulting in dismissal rulings for all six, who are now barred from policing.

Does indecent exposure lead to more serious crimes?

Dominic Casciani

Legal Correspondent

Are these incidents of indecent exposure relevant to Sarah Everard's murder?

Jennifer Grant is a criminologist who studies sex offenders, having worked with them previously as a probation officer.

The Portsmouth University academic says "it's a really complicated question to answer", but there is evidence that some men graduate from indecent exposure to serious sexual assaults and rape.

"There's long been a suggestion that indecent exposure is connected to anti-social behaviour more generally rather than a sexual motivation. And not everyone who exposes themselves is doing it to get sexual pleasure."

There is a group of offenders who are potentially violent because the way they expose themselves involves anger, and an apparent desire to frighten and control women they approach, she says.

The most reliable evidence comes from a 2014 United States study analysing data going back 30 years. It concluded that between 5% and 10% of men who commit "exhibitionist" crimes escalate to sexual assaults.

Read more: Did indecent exposure warn of murder?

Court sketch of Couzens released

PA

A court artist sketch of Wayne Couzens appearing via video link at the Old Bailey has just been released.

Couzens was watching from Frankland prison, where he is serving a full life sentenced for murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021.

As Couzens was sentenced, he looked down, as he had done for much of the hearing.

WATCH: 'Offences aggravated by being a serving police officer'

Couzens was on duty at the time of one offence, says Mrs Justice May

The judge, Mrs Justice May, handed Couzens a sentence of 19 months. She said his offences were aggravated by the fact that he was a serving police officer at the time.

On the day he exposed himself to victim "A" he was actually on duty, working from home, she said.

The feed from court was paused briefly during her statement, but she went on to say that the 19-month sentence will be added to his existing whole-life sentence, from which he will "never be released".

Independent inquiry seeks 'full explanation' for Everard’s murder

Family Handout/PA Wire

An independent inquiry led by Dame Elish Angiolini is looking at Sarah Everard's murder and will consider Wayne Couzens' previous exposure incidents as part of an analysis of whether any opportunities to prevent her death were missed.

The inquiry’s website says its purpose is "to ensure the victim’s family and public get a full explanation of the causes of, and factors contributing to, this harrowing murder".

The site says the two-part inquiry will firstly focus on "examining Wayne Couzens' career and previous behaviour".

Its second part will be set by the home secretary "after consideration of broader issues raised by this case for policing and the protection of women".

Couzens' crimes abhorrent, says CPS chief

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has described Wayne Couzens' crimes as "abhorrent".

Speaking after the sentencing, head of the CPS special crime division Rosemary Ainslie said: "Couzens repeatedly targeted women to expose himself to on multiple occasions. These offences were abhorrent and caused great distress and discomfort for the victims.

"It is right that he has been prosecuted for these offences and that he will continue to spend the rest of his life in prison."

The CPS prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police. They make decisions independently of the police and government.

'If he'd been held accountable... we could have saved Sarah'

Lucy Manning

Special Correspondent at the Old Bailey

It was shocking to sit in court and watch the CCTV from the McDonald's in Swanley when Wayne Couzens exposed himself. Clearly visible was the number plate “AF12 XXW”.

This number plate was reported to the police three days before Sarah Everard’s murder, along with details of his credit card. That car, if it had been checked, was registered to Wayne Couzens, a police officer. He could have been suspended and arrested.

In tears in court as she read her victim statement, one of the McDonald’s workers who he exposed himself to was quite clear: “I had no one contact me or ask for a statement. It was only after Sarah’s murder that I became involved. If he had been held accountable when we had reported the crime, we could have saved Sarah.”

Alongside the judge's comments that the lack of police action is likely to have confirmed in Couzens a "dangerous belief" in his "invincibility", there can be no clearer indictment of the police and their failures.

Couzens' 'dangerous belief in his invincibility'

BBC

As Couzens was handed his sentence, the judge Mrs Justice May highlighted the lack of police investigation into his crimes, and how this would have emboldened him.

She said:

The fact that no police came to find him or his black car, to question him about these incidents, can only have served to confirm and strengthen, in the defendant’s mind, a dangerous belief in his invincibility; in his power to sexually dominate and abuse women without being stopped."

What's been happening?

Here's a brief round-up of what's been happening in the Old Bailey:

• Wayne Couzens has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for exposing himself on three occasions
• The former Met Police officer is already serving a whole-life sentence for murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021
• One of the offences happened just days before he killed Sarah Everard
• Couzens appeared by video link from jail
• He admitted exposing himself on three occasions in Kent - twice at a fast-food restaurant in February 2021 and another in woodland in 2020
• The judge then said all the offences were aggravated by the fact that he was a serving police officer