Official Report Reveals Deep Failures in Police Vetting Leading to Sarah Everard’s Murder

An official inquiry has uncovered severe shortcomings in police vetting procedures that allowed Wayne Couzens, a former Metropolitan Police officer, to evade detection and ultimately kidnap and murder Sarah Everard, leading to widespread calls for radical reforms in law enforcement recruitment and training.

The independent review chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini revealed a series of missed opportunities and red flags that should have signaled Couzens’ unsuitability to serve in law enforcement. The report exposed multiple incidents that were not properly reported to the police, including a very serious sexual assault on a minor prior to Couzens’ policing career.

Couzens, who began his career as a special constable with Kent Police in 2002 before transferring to the Metropolitan Police in 2018, was found to have a history of sexually motivated offenses and alarming behaviors dating back nearly two decades.

Sarah Everard’s family expressed profound disappointment in the institutional failures that allowed Couzens, a serial sex offender, to operate freely within the police force. They emphasized that Sarah’s tragic death could have been prevented if proper action had been taken to address the warning signs about Couzens’ conduct.

The report also highlighted Couzens’ prior involvement in the armed protection duties at high-profile buildings, underscoring the gravity of the systemic failures that enabled his crimes. It detailed Couzens’ disturbing pattern of sexually motivated offenses, including indecent exposure, sexual assault, and possession of indecent images of children.

Lady Elish Angiolini’s findings prompted urgent calls for a comprehensive overhaul of police vetting and recruitment processes to mitigate the risk of allowing individuals like Couzens to wield authority within law enforcement agencies.