A London police officer has been charged with the kidnapping and murder of a British woman, 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard, whose death has sparked nationwide protests from grassroots organizers.
Wayne Couzens, a 48-year-old police officer in London’s Metropolitan Police Service, reportedly wore a gray tracksuit and had an apparent wound on his head during his first court appearance on Saturday, during which he heard the charges and spoke only to confirm his name and address. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring remanded him in custody to appear in court again next Tuesday.
Couzens was arrested last Tuesday after Everard’s body was found in a wooded area in Ashford, Kent, according to a report by the BBC.
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An unnamed woman in her 30s who was arrested at the same time as Couzens on suspicion of aiding an “offender” was released on bail and directed to return to a police station in April, according to a press release by the MPS.
During the hearing, prosecutor Zoe Martin said Everard was reported missing by her boyfriend on March 4. Everard visited a friend on March 3 and left at approximately 10 p.m. for a 2.5-mile journey home, according to Martin, who added that she stayed on the phone with her boyfriend for 14 minutes and was captured on tape walking alone at 11:15 p.m. and 11:28 p.m.
Everard’s body was recovered in a builder’s bag and later identified through the use of dental records, the court heard.
A Saturday vigil for Everard planned by Reclaim These Streets was canceled after talks between organizers and the police fell apart.
“I would like to thank the organisers of tonight’s vigil in Clapham Common for cancelling the gathering. Since Sarah’s disappearance, we have shared Londoners anguish, shock and sadness at the truly awful circumstances of her disappearance and death. … While it is clear we cannot do this together on Clapham Common, I know there are various others ways to mourn Sarah in a safe way,” Commander Catherine Roper, the police force’s lead for community engagement, said in a statement.
Jessica Leigh, an organizer for Reclaim These Streets, claimed that the organizers “proactively reached out to Lambeth Council and the Metropolitan Police to ensure that the event could safely and legally take place,” only to be told that officers’ “hands were tied” by COVID-19 regulations.
Despite the cancellation of the vigil, mourners poured into Clapham Common on Saturday, many of whom clashed with police officers.
Some in the crowd shouted, “Shame on you,” and “Arrest your own,” in reference to Couzen’s status as an officer, according to the Washington Post. Officers were later seen handcuffing and removing women from the vigil.
“The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws, but from images I’ve seen it’s clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter.
Participants said Everard’s death served as a reminder of the dangers of traveling alone.
“It touched a nerve, really, that it really could have just been me,” Lucy Davies, 24, told the outlet. “Today is important for all the days following to stop girls from feeling unsafe in areas, and maybe what men can do to help us feel a bit safer,”
Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, briefly appeared at the vigil, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced on Twitter that he would partake in commemorating Everard.
“Tonight [my partner] Carrie [Symonds] and I will be lighting a candle for Sarah Everard and thinking of her family and friends. I cannot imagine how unbearable their pain and grief is. We must work fast to find all the answers to this horrifying crime,” he wrote.
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Couzens first joined the MPS in 2018, according to the police force’s statement. He was first posted to South Area, after which he moved to the Bromley area and then the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, where his primary role was on uniformed patrol duties of diplomatic premises.
Representatives for the U.K. judiciary did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for relevant materials.
