The Metropolitan police made errors after receiving claims that Wayne Couzens had indecently exposed himself days before he attacked Sarah Everard, an official report is expected to find.
Exactly one year ago Couzens, then a serving firearms officer in the Metropolitan police, kidnapped Everard, 33, off a south London street as she walked home.
He later raped and murdered her, and he was convicted and jailed for a whole-life term, with the judge equating the seriousness of his crimes to terrorism because he had used police powers and equipment to carry out his attack.
Couzens struck on 3 March 2021, having gone “hunting” for a woman to attack, his trial heard. The details of his premeditated crimes rocked Britain’s biggest police force.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct launched an investigation into how the Met handled a report it received from a member of the public on 28 February 2021 alleging that a man had exposed himself at a McDonald’s in south London.
A second report also alleged a man had exposed himself. Details of a car were passed to police. If officers had checked the licence plate, it would have shown the car belonged to Couzens.
What checks were made or progressed – which officers can do from their desk with the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency – is part of the investigation. Such checks are regarded in policing as basic.
Two Met officers have been formally notified they are under investigation for potential disciplinary offences. One is severe enough to be treated as suspected gross misconduct, the most serious kind of offence under the police disciplinary system. Initially both officers faced allegations of misconduct, which the other officer continues to be investigated for.
A decision on whether the officers will face disciplinary charges and a hearing is expected imminently.
The IOPC investigation is examining whether policies and procedures were followed, and its report on the Met was completed several weeks ago.
The Met is not the only force facing claims it missed a chance to identify Couzens as a potential threat to women before he committed the murder.
The IOPC is also investigating Kent police over an incident six years before he attacked Everard. In June 2015, Kent police received a report that a man had been spotted in Dover in a car naked from the waist down.
One Kent officer is under investigation for alleged misconduct and the IOPC findings are nearing completion.
It is believed there may have been enough information recorded in the Kent police system to have identified the semi-naked man as being Couzens, who was then an officer at the time with the Civil Nuclear constabulary.
CNC says it was never told about the incident, and in 2018 Couzens joined the Met and passed its vetting procedures.
He staged a false arrest of Everard as she returned from a friend’s house during a period of coronavirus lockdown measures. He used his police warrant card and handcuffs to lure Everard off the street before strangling her with his police belt and burning her body.
Everard’s remains were recovered from woodland near Ashford in Kent, about 20 miles west of Couzens’ home in Deal, a week after she disappeared. A postmortem showed she died from compression of the neck.
Two inquiries are under way into the Couzens scandal, one ordered by the home secretary and the other by the Met commissioner.
