London police should not have hired an officer who killed the woman, an investigation has found

An investigation published on Thursday into the murder of a young woman three years ago by a London police officer – a case that roiled Britain and sparked a wider reckoning in the country over violence against women – has found that the police missed signs of a worrying situation. past that should have prevented him from being hired.

The woman, Sarah Everard, 33, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Wayne Couzens, a member of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, in March 2021. Mr Couzens was later convicted to life in prison for the murder.

Ms Everard’s murder put a spotlight on how bad behavior and violence against women could flourish within the ranks of the country’s police force, prompting soul-searching and demands to overhaul the processes for hiring and supervising officers improve.

“It is time for everyone in law enforcement to do everything they can to improve standards of recruitment, vetting and investigations,” Elish Angiolini, a lawyer who led the investigation, said at a news conference. “Wayne Couzens was never suitable to become a police officer. Police leaders must be assured that there is not another Couzens operating in plain sight.”

The investigation found that Mr Couzens’ initial vetting when he joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 2018 was deeply flawed, lacking available information, including about disturbing incidents when he served in another police force in Kent, in the south east from England. The information was overlooked when Mr Couzens applied for work in London in 2018 and again the following year when he applied for a specialist firearms role, the investigation found.

Previous reports include a concerning use of pornography, an allegation of indecent exposure that was never acted upon by authorities and an incident, which the investigation did not go into in detail, where he was reported missing from his home.

The detailed report of the investigation examined how “evidence of his preference for violent and extreme pornography and history of alleged sex crimes predates Sarah’s murder by nearly two decades.” It says there may be more victims of Mr Couzens who have yet to come forward.

The report outlined 16 recommendations for those responsible for policing, including how to handle indecent exposure incidents, how to conduct home visits and how to vet police applicants, among others. “Without a major overhaul, there is nothing to stop a new Couzens from operating in plain sight,” the report said.

“Now is the time for change,” Ms Angiolini said in the report.

In a statement published in the report, Ms Everard’s relatives said they believed that if Mr Couzens had not been a police officer, she would not have died because she got into his car after he tricked her into thinking she was under arrest.

“It is clear that Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. Although he was in a position of trust, he was in reality a serial sex offender,” the family said. “Warning signs were overlooked and opportunities to confront him were missed throughout his career.

Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the report was “an urgent call to action for all of us in the force.”

“We must go further and faster to regain the trust of all those whose confidence in the police has been shaken by the events of recent years,” he said. “Regardless of our significant progress over the past year, the scale of change needed inevitably means it will take time and is not yet complete.”

Mr Rowley took up the role in September 2022 after his predecessor, Cressida Dick, resigned amid the crisis of confidence in the police, and has pledged to root out and crack down on problematic officers. “merciless” in tackling the institutional problems within the force.

James Cleverly, the home secretary whose office is responsible for overseeing the police, said in a statement that while police had made “tremendous progress” since Ms Everard’s death to right wrongs, more needed to be done done.

“The man who committed these crimes does not reflect the majority of dedicated police officers who work day in and day out to help people,” he said. “But Sarah was let down in more ways than one by the people tasked with keeping her safe, and it exposed wider problems within the police and society that urgently need to be resolved.”

Mr Couzens’ crime was not the only incident of police brutality to have shocked Britain in recent years. A number of other officers have appeared in court as efforts are made to clear the house. Last year, Mr Rowley predicted that “two or three officers” can appear in court every week in the coming months and years.

David Carrick, another London officer, raped and assaulted at least 12 women during a 20-year career in policing, despite previous allegations of violence against women. Last year he was sentenced to life in prison.

While the part of Ms Angiolini’s investigation released on Thursday focused on Mr Couzens, sections released later will examine Mr Carrick’s case and discuss systemic problems in the police force.