Sarah Everard: It will take years to repair trust - London mayor

Sarah Everard was killed by off-duty police officer Wayne Couzens

The Mayor of London says it will "take years" to repair damage to trust in the police, as the third anniversary of Sarah Everard's death is marked.

The 33-year-old marketing executive was raped and killed by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London on 3 March 2021.

Her murder put a spotlight on violence against women and girls.

The anniversary comes two days after an inquiry concluded opportunities were missed to stop the killer.

"My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Sarah Everard on the third anniversary of her tragic death, on what must be an unimaginably difficult day for all those who knew and loved Sarah," Sadiq Khan said.

"Sarah's murder by a serving police officer horrified the entire country and significantly damaged the trust and confidence women and girls have in the police. This will take years to repair."

Last week, an inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini said that Couzens should never have been given his job as a police officer and chances to stop the sexual predators were repeatedly ignored and missed.

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The Casey Review in March 2023, commissioned by the Met in the wake of Ms Everard's murder, also found the force was institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynist, and that there might be more officers like Couzens among its ranks.

Mr Khan said the Met was on a path of "far-reaching reform", with some improvements made on stronger vetting and removal of rogue police officers, but he that would continue to hold the Met Police commissioner to account on delivering reforms "particularly for women and girls who have been let down for far too long".

'Accountability'

Charity Women's Aid said the police must urgently restore the confidence of women, "which is at an all-time low".

Chief executive Farah Nazeer said: "We need real accountability for reform within policing so that women and children are safe from those who seek to cause them harm and that police officers whose duty it is to protect them, do their jobs with care, consideration and diligence, so that horrific murders like Sarah's never happen again."

Following the Angiolini inquiry, Home Secretary James Cleverly announced police officers would be automatically suspended in future if charged with certain criminal offences.

Labour has said it would introduce compulsory violence against women and girls training for every police officer and promised an overhaul of police vetting procedures.

A BBC documentary on Tuesday will examine the impact of the case on the Metropolitan Police force.

You can watch Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice at 21:00 GMT on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer.

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