Sarah Everard murderer given a whole life sentence
Wayne Couzens has been sentenced for the murder, kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard
Last updated 24th May 2022
Wayne Couzens has been given a whole life sentence in prison for the murder, kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard.
Ms Everard was kidnapped by the 48-year-old serving police officer as she walked home from a friend's house in Clapham on March 3rd, he then drove her to Kent and went on to rape and strangle the 33-year-old marketing executive.
Wayne Couzens will die in jail after he was handed a whole life order for the killing which has shocked and outraged the nation.
Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Lord Justice Fulford said the seriousness of the case was so “exceptionally high” that it warranted a whole life order.
He said: “The misuse of a police officer’s role such as occurred in this case in order to kidnap, rape and murder a lone victim is of equal seriousness as a murder for the purpose of advancing a political, religious ideological cause.”
READ MORE: Wayne Couzens made 'false arrest' before killing Sarah Everard, court hears
Sentencing Couzens, Lord Justice Fulford said the circumstances of the case are “devastating, tragic and wholly brutal”.
The judge said Ms Everard was “a wholly blameless victim” of a “grotesque” series of offences which culminated in her death and disposal of her body.
The evidence gathered against Couzens was “unanswerable” and there was “no credible innocent explanation” for it, he said.
Our reporter Georgie Prodromou has been in court following the sentencing you can read the updates from the case here.
Couzens went “hunting a lone female to kidnap and rape” having planned in “unspeakably” grim detail, the judge said.
The defendant’s preparations included taking some of his police kit with him and lying to his family about working on the night of the murder, the Old Bailey heard.
The judge paid tribute to the dignity of Ms Everard’s family, whose statements in court revealed the human impact of the “warped, selfish and brutal offending which was both sexual and homicidal.”