Angiolini says the initial vetting process when Couzens joined the Met in 2018 was flawed.

She says: "The Metropolitan Police Service did not take into account all the information that was avaialble to them."

The inquiry chair cites relevant issues such as Couzens being reported missing from home in 2013 and his car being linked to an allegation of indecent exposure in 2015.

A warning to readers: This post contains upsetting details.

Angiolini now turns to Couzens' history of interest in violent pornography.

She says on a number of occasions it is alleged that he tried to show violent pornography to friends and colleagues.

He is also alleged to have sent unsolicited photos of his penis to young women and purchased soiled women's underwear online.

Angliolini notes that, since Sarah's murder, Couzens has been convicted of crimes of indecent exposure, one of which he had already been linked to while a serving police officer.

And he is alleged to have possessed indecent images of children, though he has not been convicted of the latter allegation.

Returning to the report for a moment, it notes that Couzens' history of alleged sexual offending and preference for extreme violent pornography dated back nearly 20 years before Sarah's murder.

He is accused of having sexually assaulted a child "barely in her teens" while in his early 20s, and the inquiry identified four more victims who had not reported sexual crimes to the police, and it is feared there may be more.

Angiolini says opportunities to disrupt Couzens' offending were missed.

"Couzens clearly managed the impression he gave people of himself," she says, adding that he shared his "callous views of women" with a small group of like-minded people on a social media group.

She notes that this enabled him to target vulnerable women while operating in plain sight, as "an apparently unremarkable officer".

Angiolini is now giving her statement.

She says the report contains 16 recommendations, which are designed to help prevent a situation where anyone "entrusted with the powers of a service police officer" abuses that trust again.

She adds that trust in policing affects us all, and that Wayne Couzens was never fit to be a police officer.

She then takes a moment to pay tribute to Sarah Everard's "loving family", who she says she has had the "great privilege" of getting to know over the two years of the inquiry.

"I have been profoundly affected by their grief and their grace in their suffering," she says.

The family of Sarah Everard have just responded to the inquiry's report, saying they believe the 33-year-old died because Wayne Couzens was a police officer, adding: “She would never have got into a stranger’s car."

Sarah Everard's parents and siblings Sue, Jeremy, Katie and James, said in a statement the inquiry had helped them because it made them feel Sarah's life was "valued and her memory honoured".

"It is obvious that Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. Whilst holding a position of trust, in reality he was a serial sex offender.

"Warning signs were overlooked throughout his career and opportunities to confront him were missed.

"We believe that Sarah died because he was a police officer - she would never have got into a stranger's car."

Image source, PA Media

Lady Elish Angiolini, who has led the inquiry, is about to hold a statement following the release of the report today.

Stay with us as we bring you more details.

Judith Burns
Reporting from the inquiry

The report is damning in its review of cultures within police forces - it lays much of the blame there and says Couzens' crimes "sit on the same continuum" as sexist and misogynistic behaviour.

The report says three police forces - Kent Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police, failed to spot the red flags about his unsuitability for office when they "could and should have stopped him".

These failures meant Couzens "could enjoy the powers and privileges that accompany the role of police officer," it adds.

It says Couzens would go on to use his knowledge of police powers to falsely arrest Sarah Everard.

In particular, the report says investigations into allegations of indecent exposure by Couzens in 2015, 2020 and 2021, were marred by police failures to properly pursue lines of inquiry.

"As long as vile behaviour and deeply abusive language are normalised and accepted as 'banter' in policing culture and elsewhere, people like Couzens will be able to commit atrocious crimes undetected," the report says.

Judith Burns
Reporting from the inquiry

The report - the first produced by the inquiry - also highlights how Couzens' liking for violent and extreme pornography and his history of alleged sexual offending date back nearly 20 years before the murder of Sarah Everard.

The former Met Police officer admitted three counts of indecent exposure, relating to three incidents in Kent - two offences at a fast-food restaurant in February 2021, and another at woodland in Deal in 2020, all in the presence of women.

"It has become clear that Couzens' terrible crimes were not committed in isolation but were the culmination of a trajectory of sexually-motivated behaviour and offending," the report says.

Victims of his indecent exposures who reported his offending were not taken sufficiently seriously by the police, it adds.

"The police officers who responded to those victims were not adequately trained, equipped or motivated to investigate the allegations properly."

The report also calls for "a fundamental change" to the police response to indecent exposure.

Judith Burns
Reporting from the inquiry

The embargo on the Angiolini Inquiry report has just lifted, so we can now report its findings.

The report says Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer, and opportunities to stop him continuing his career and offending were missed.

Couzens had been a police officer for decades before he committed the murder, and has since been linked to several indecent exposure crimes that were not properly investigated.

The report is calling for a radical overhaul of police vetting and recruitment.

"Without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight," Angiolini says in the report, adding: "Now is the time for change."

She urges "all those in authority in every police force in the country to read this report and take immediate action".

Findings from the report will be published shortly. In detail, here’s what the first part of the inquiry will establish:

• A timeline of Couzens career, including allegations of criminal behaviour and misconduct
• The circumstances surrounding his vetting and re-vetting
• Relevant matters emerging from his transfer between police forces - Couzens served in three forces
• His overall conduct
• The extent to which his colleagues were aware of, or raised, any issues about his behaviour, particularly in relation to women
• Any abuse of his police powers

Then, the second part will focus on the risk of similar events happening again across policing. It will also investigate police culture and will address concerns about women’s safety in public places.

Described by her family as "bright and beautiful", "kind and thoughtful", "caring and dependable", Sarah Everard "always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour".

"She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all," they said.

The 33-year-old - a daughter, sister, friend and colleague - had just started a new job and was planning a holiday to Ibiza with her boyfriend and four others.

Her mother, Susan, recalled in her victim impact statement: “She was a beautiful dancer.

"She was a wonderful daughter. She was always there to listen, to advise, or simply to share with the minutiae of the day.

"And she was also a strongly principled young woman who knew right from wrong and who lived by those values."

A friend of Sarah's remembered her as "sunshine and light", a person who "made you feel warm and good and safe".

Read more here.

Image source, Family handout/PA

Wayne Couzens undertook "significant planning and premeditation" before murdering Sarah Everard, Lord Justice Fulford said in his sentencing remarks back in 2021.

The police officer had "long planned to carry out a violent sexual assault on a yet-to-be-selected victim" who he intended to coerce into his custody, the judge noted.

The court heard how Couzens used the knowledge he had gained from working on coronavirus patrols in January that year, and his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card, to trick Sarah under the guise of a fake arrest for breaching Covid guidelines.

The then-48 year old, who had been a police officer since 2002, was off duty when he handcuffed Sarah before bundling her into a car.

Couzens then drove to Dover in Kent, where he transferred her to his own car, before travelling to a remote rural area nearby.

It was there that he raped and murdered his victim - strangling her with his police belt.

The abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by an off-duty police officer shocked the country and raised many questions for the Metropolitan Police.

The Angiolini Inquiry is aiming to establish what the Met may have known about Wayne Couzens’ behaviour and conduct prior to the murder.

Couzens was sacked by the Met after his arrest, but the force faced questions over whether chances were missed to prevent his predatory behaviour.

After Sarah Everard's murder, the police watchdog announced it was probing alleged failures by the Met to investigate two indecent exposure incidents linked to Couzens in February 2021.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct also investigated alleged failures by Kent Police to investigate a flashing incident linked to Couzens in 2015.

Alex Therrien
Live reporter

Hello and welcome to our live coverage ahead of the publication of the first set of findings from the Angiolini Inquiry, which has been looking into the facts and circumstances that led up to the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.

Sarah was 33 when she vanished in Clapham, south-west London, on the way home from a friend’s house.

She was abducted, raped and murdered by an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer, Wayne Couzens, in a killing that shocked the country and raised questions over police policy and procedures, as well as women's safety in public spaces.

Couzens is now serving a whole-life term in prison after pleading guilty to murder.

The Angiolini Inquiry’s first stage has been considering what the Met knew about Couzens’ reported behaviour prior to Sarah Everard’s murder - his overall conduct, any disciplinary matters, and whether concerns about these were known.

Its first-stage report is due to be released at 10:30 GMT, and we'll bring you the key lines from this.