Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
An upcoming BBC documentary revolving around the disappearance and murder of Sarah Everard was recently announced by the broadcasting channel. It will explore details of the crime and how it was carried out through the abuse of power by law enforcement authorities. The program will be 60 minutes long and is reportedly being made in close contact with Sarah’s parents. They believe it might help shed light on the abuse of power and the mishandling of cases that highlight violence against women.
On March 3, 2021, Sarah Everard disappeared as she walked home from her friend’s place in Clapham, south London. Her body was recovered from a woodland area near Ashford in Kent. As per BBC, the remains were identified as Sarah’s based on her dental records. The body was wrapped in builder’s bags, which were dumped only a few meters away from the land owned by Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer.
On her way home that night, Sarah Everard was reportedly stopped by Couzens, who told her he would have to arrest her for breaching the COVID-19 restrictions that were in place at the time. Couzens had been serving in the force for nearly two decades since 2002 and was part of the COVID patrol force in January 2021. He handcuffed Sarah and wrongfully arrested her. Couzens then drove her in a car that he hired a few days ago.
BBC reported that Wayne Couzens moved Sarah to another car that was his own. He drove to a remote area where he raped and murdered her. Couzens dumped her there and left. A day later, he returned to burn the body and dump the remains in green rubble bags.
Who was convicted of Sarah Everard’s murder?
Wayne Couzens was convicted of the abduction, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021. He pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. While he was serving his sentence, Couzens was further sentenced to 19 months in prison. This was after multiple incidents of indecent exposure that he perpetrated on several women were proven in court.
He was first arrested on March 9, 2021, after being charged with kidnapping. He was subsequently arrested for the murder of Sarah Everard. According to The Guardian, the results of the postmortem revealed that she died from “compression of the neck.”
BBC reported that the court also found Wayne Couzens’ crimes to be planned and pre-meditated. He reportedly visited Deal, Kent, multiple times over the month before Sarah’s disappearance. Although his choice of the victim was random, he allegedly decided to perpetrate sexual violence on a woman after abducting her. The abduction was reportedly witnessed by a couple who were driving by. However, they assumed it was a legitimate arrest being made by a police officer and did not intervene.
According to CNN, in November 2020, he allegedly exposed himself, naked and masturbating, to a female cyclist in Kent. A few months later, in February 2021, he flashed to two women at a fast-food restaurant on two different occasions. The pattern of abuse and the fact that they went unreported and uninvestigated until many months after they happened triggered widespread conversation around abuse of power by the police and the handling of the cases of violence against women by concerned authorities.
The documentary about Sarah Everard’s murder will be aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
