London
CNN
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Wayne Couzens, the previous London police officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in 2021, has been sentenced to 19 additional months in jail for indecent publicity incidents that happened whilst he used to be serving within the power.
Couzens, 50, used to be already serving a existence sentence with out the opportunity of parole for the killing of 33-year-old Everard, which sparked outrage against the Metropolitan Police and started a countrywide debate about violence in opposition to ladies.
He used to be moreover sentenced on Monday for exposing himself to girls on 3 events within the months previous to the homicide. Two befell at a fast-food eating place – the latter of which used to be simply days ahead of he murdered Everard – and any other happened whilst Couzens used to be on shift with the police.
Couzens seemed by means of video hyperlink from jail right through Monday’s listening to. The courtroom heard that he stepped into the trail of a feminine bicycle owner whilst bare and masturbating, in a wooded area space of Kent in November 2020, whilst he used to be meant to be operating from house.
Then, on two dates in February 2021, Couzens displayed his erect penis to staffers at a quick meals drive-through, whilst choosing up meals in his automotive.
The 2nd incident happened on February 27; days later, on March 3, Couzens abducted Everard in south London.
On Monday, Couzens additionally pleaded no longer accountable to a fourth indecent publicity rate from an alleged incident in June 2015. The UK information company PA Media reported that he’ll no longer face trial over that rate because it used to be left on record.
Confidence within the Met police power has plummeted following a sequence of scandals, together with circumstances of violence in opposition to ladies and allegations of a misogynistic and protecting tradition amongst officials.
The disaster started after Couzens’ homicide of Everard, which surprised Britain and drew sharp scrutiny against Scotland Yard. The 33-year-old used to be strolling to her London house on March 3 when Couzens used his police id and handcuffs to lie to her into getting into his automotive underneath the pretense that she had violated Covid-19 pandemic laws. He raped her and strangled her along with his police belt later that night time.
Police had been therefore criticized for his or her heavy-handed ways at a vigil for Everard in Clapham, south London, close to the place she went lacking, and for no longer appearing upon purple flags in his habits faster.
Two cops are these days dealing with misconduct hearings over their dealing with of 2 separate indecent publicity reviews associated with Couzens, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) showed remaining month.
In January, former Met senior officer David Carrick admitted 49 offenses, together with 24 counts of rape, over an 18-year duration, sparking any other spherical of anger. Critics have referred to as for a root-and-branch inquiry into its the Met’s operations and its procedure in coping with proceedings.
Met Commissioner Mark Rowley apologized for the issues that resulted in Carrick no longer being stuck previous, in an interview disbursed to UK broadcasters in January.
Announcing a overview of all the ones staff dealing with purple flags, he mentioned: “I’m sorry and I know we’ve let women down. I think we failed over two decades to be as ruthless as we ought to be in guarding our own integrity.”
A record remaining fall discovered that once a circle of relatives member or a fellow officer filed a grievance, it took on reasonable 400 days – greater than a complete yr – for an allegation of misconduct to be resolved.
