Sarah Everard 'could have been saved', says Couzens' victim

Sarah Everard's life "could have been saved" if police had acted on reports of Wayne Couzens exposing himself, one of his victims has said.

- Emine Sinmaz

Couzens, a Met police firearms officer, exposed himself to the woman at a fast food restaurant four days before he abducted, raped and murdered Everard on 3 March 2021.

The incident was reported to the Met the day after, providing Couzens' vehicle registration details and his credit card number.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Old Bailey: "This incident was reported on the Sunday. If he had been held accountable when we reported the crime, we could have saved Sarah." 

Couzens, who appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from prison, was sentenced to 19 months for three incidents of indecent exposure committed in the months before he murdered Everard, 33.

The sentencing came as the policing watchdog released a series of disturbing messages sent by Couzens, in which he joked about rape and made racist remarks in a WhatsApp group with other police officers.