Wayne Couzens pleaded guilty to indecent exposure
(Picture: Met Police )Wayne Couzens was on duty for the Metropolitan Police when he emerged naked from woodland and flashed a female cyclist four months before the murder of Sarah Everard.
Police are accused of missing a series of chances to stop Couzens, a firearms officer in the Met’s elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, before he kidnapped, raped, and killed Ms Everard in March 2021.
Couzens’s disturbing sexual behaviour was so well-known in some circles that some takeaway staff even nicknamed him ‘the penis guy’, court documents have revealed.
On Monday at the Old Bailey, Couzens admitted flashing takeaway staff in Kent twice in the days prior to the murder, using his own car and bankcard as he ordered food and drink.
His numberplate and bank details had been handed over to police on February 28, but Couzens was not identified in time to stop the killing of Ms Everard on March 3.
It can now be revealed that Couzens was supposed to be on duty when, on November 13, 2020, he brazenly flashed a female cyclist while masturbating at the roadside near to Deal in Kent.
“A man stepped out of the woodland, and stood on a bank above her”, prosecutors set out in a written submission to an early court appearance.
“She felt she had no choice but to continue cycling past him because of the road layout. There were no words exchanged between them.
“She had a clear view of him and clearly remembers what he looked like as she found it so upsetting.”
The court was told the woman told a passing police officer who promised to “have a look”, and she later reported it officially to Kent Police, giving a clear description of the naked Couzens.
The incident happened at about 2.30pm, towards the end of Couzens’ shift and he was “on duty at the time of this offence”, prosecutors added.
The woman came forward after seeing news of Ms Everard’s murder, and positively identified Couzens as the flasher of four months earlier.
Analysis of Couzens’ phone reveals he had spent around an hour and a half loitering in the woodland area on the morning of the incident, and returned in the afternoon when he encountered the cyclist.
Court documents reveal that Couzens was branded the “penis guy” by takeaway staff after he was repeatedly spotted ordering food while naked and exposed from the waist down.
One of the victims says she went into “shut down mode” after being flashed by Couzens as he ordered a coffee and a burger.
When he was reported to police on February 28, 2021, officers were handed Couzens’ car registration number, as well as evidence he had used his own credit card for the purchases. However he was not spoken to by police prior to carrying out Ms Everard’s murder.
Investigations have now revealed Couzens was also caught on CCTV at the time of the incidents, conclusively identifying him as the flasher.
Days after the final flashing incident, Couzens used the same black Seat Exeo to kidnap marketing executive Ms Everard as she walked home alone along the South Circular at night.
He carried out a bogus arrest, before transporting Ms Everard to Kent where she was raped and murdered and her body was dumped in woodland.
Court documents reveal Couzens hired a vehicle and bought a roll of carpet protector just 24 hours after the last takeaway flashing incident. Both were
used during Ms Everard’s capture and murder.
Analysis of his phone and traffic cameras also reveals he had made a series of unexplained trips into London on six days prior to Ms Everard’s murder, in January and February 2021.
The journeys, in the early hours of the morning while off-duty, “bear some similarity to his movements in and around Earls Court on March 3, 2021 - searching for a target - immediately before he kidnapped Sarah Everard”, the court heard.
Each trip ended with a stop at the takeaway where Couzens has admitted flashing staff.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct report is expected shortly, revealing whether any officers will face disciplinary action over the missed opportunities to catch Couzens.
An independent inquiry is also underway into the crimes of Couzens and serial rapist police officer David Carrick, who served in the same unit.
“It’s every victim’s right to be listened to and to have their case investigated”, said Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Professionalism Bas Javid.
“I know the homicide team were meticulous and committed in doing everything they could to get justice for them.
“I hope this goes some small way to help the public understand that we will be ruthless in holding officers – even one serving a whole life order and who will never know freedom again – to account.
“We know the public will, understandably, be sickened at yet more grotesque crimes by Couzens. The process of flushing out the corrupt and the criminal from the Met will be slow and painful, but is necessary and we will continue to do so. This is how we will reform, move forward and become an institution Londoners can have confidence in.”
Couzens is serving a whole life sentence for Ms Everard’s murder. He pleaded guilty to three incidents of indecent exposure and is due to be sentenced on March 6. Three further allegations of indecent exposure will be left to lie on his file.
