The London police officer arrested for the kidnapping, rape, and killing of 33-year-old Sarah Everard pleaded responsible to her homicide on Friday in a criminal offense that despatched shockwaves by way of the UK.
Wayne Couzens, the 48-year-old former Metropolitan Police officer, had already admitted to kidnapping and rape, having pleaded guilty to the costs on June 8. On the time, he additionally admitted he “was accountable for her killing,” however didn’t enter a plea on the homicide cost, prosecutors mentioned.
On Friday, officers introduced Couzens had pleaded responsible to homicide and will probably be sentenced on Sept. 29.
“This plea is because of an excessive amount of laborious work by the prosecution group,” mentioned Carolyn Oakley of the Crown Prosecution Service. “The police needs to be recommended for his or her thorough and tireless investigation into Sarah’s disappearance.”
Everard, a London-based advertising and marketing government, disappeared on the evening of March 3 whereas strolling dwelling from a good friend’s home. Couzens was arrested days later, and Everard’s physique was present in a wooded space greater than 50 miles from the place she’d final been seen. An post-mortem revealed the reason for dying to be compression of the neck.
The younger girl’s dying set off a tidal wave of grief and anger within the UK. On-line, many ladies spoke out about gendered violence and the shortage of security they usually really feel simply going about their lives. A peaceable vigil in London held shortly after the homicide drew hundreds, however police met it with pressure, arresting 4 girls and igniting even deeper fury in opposition to the identical establishment that employed Everard’s killer.
In a press conference on Friday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick mentioned she and the complete police pressure are “sickened, angered, and devastated” by Everard’s homicide and “really feel betrayed” that it was dedicated by one in every of their very own.
“Sarah was a unbelievable, proficient younger girl together with her entire life forward of her, and that has been snatched away,” Dick mentioned. “She was vastly beloved, and he or she will probably be sorely missed by so very many individuals.”
It’s nonetheless unknown why Couzens murdered Everard. In courtroom, prosecutor Tom Little mentioned they’d by no means met and had been “complete strangers to one another,” based on the BBC.
He had beforehand concocted an elaborate lie to clarify the occasions, the BBC reported, falsely claiming an Jap European gang threatened his household and compelled him to kidnap Everard.
However the true motive for the brutal crime, if such a motive even exists, stays a thriller.
“Couzens lied to the police when he was arrested and so far, he has refused to remark,” Oakley mentioned. “We nonetheless have no idea what drove him to commit this appalling crime in opposition to a stranger.”
