Wayne Couzens report: Police ignored 'red flags' about Sarah Everard killer's predatory sexual offending
Wayne Couzens was able to murder Sarah Everard because the Met and other forces ignored a succession of “red flags” about his predatory sexual offending that should have stopped him being in the police, a damning report concluded on Thursday.
In the 343-page analysis of the tragedy, Lady Elish Angiolini says the missed opportunities to halt Couzens included the failure to pursue eight incidents of indecent exposure that were reported to police before he killed Ms Everard.
It also blames vetting failures by the Met and a police culture involving “vile behaviour and deeply abusive language” treated as “banter” for the failure to detect his predatory nature - and highlights Couzens’ interest in violent and extreme pornography as further evidence of his deviant sexual activity.
Thursday’s report also reveals a series of further alleged crimes by Couzens including a knifepoint kidnapping in north London in 2015, two rapes in the capital, and an “alleged against a child “barely in her teens” before he joined as a volunteer officer in 2006.
