Everard’s case gripped the UK following her disappearance, triggering a national conversation about women’s safety on the streets Everard’s case gripped the UK following her disappearance, triggering a national conversation about women’s safety on the streets
A British court has handed the police officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard a whole life sentence without parole.
Wayne Couzens, 48, abducted Everard on March 3 while she was walking home from a friend’s house in south London. He had pleaded guilty to murder, rape and kidnap.
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Reading the sentence, Justice Adrian Fulford described the circumstances of the murder as “grotesque” and said Couzens had demonstrated “no evidence of genuine contrition”.
He said the seriousness of the case was so “exceptionally high” that it warranted a whole life order, the most severe punishment available in Britain.
Fulford said Couzens, who was present in court on Thursday, had gone “hunting a lone female to kidnap and rape” on the evening of Everard’s abduction having plotted his crime in “unspeakably” grim detail beforehand.
“The defendant had planned well in advance … what was to occur and when he encountered Sarah Everard all that was missing up to that point was his victim,” he added.