Lord Justice Fulford: Public confidence in police ‘eroded’ in wake of Wayne Couzens

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Police chiefs are facing tough questions in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer, as one of Britain’s top judges said public confidence in policing had been “eroded”.

The 33-year-old marketing executive was walking home from a friend’s home when she was targeted by PC Wayne Couzens, who had been prowling the streets of London in search of a victim.

Couzens, a Met Police diplomatic protection officer, used his warrant card, handcuffs, and knowledge of Covid-19 laws to pretend he was lawfully arresting Ms Everard. Once she was detained in the back of his car, driving towards secluded spots in Kent where she was raped, killed, and dumped, the horror of her situation would eventually have become clear.

As he imposed a whole life order on Couzens on Thursday, Lord Justice Fulford said the PC had “eroded the confidence that the public are entitled to have in the police forces of England and Wales”. He said: “It is critical that every subject in this country can trust police officers when they encounter them and submit to their authority, which they are entitled to believe is being exercised in good faith.”

In damning remarks about the damage done to trust in the police, he said: “The police are in a unique position, which is essentially different from any other public servants. They have powers of coercion and control that are in an exceptional category.

“In this country it is expected that the police will act in the public interest; indeed, the authority of the police is to a truly significant extent dependent on the public’s consent, and the power of officers to detain, arrest and otherwise control important aspects of our lives is only effective because of the critical trust that we repose in the constabulary, that they will act lawfully and in the best interests of society. If that is undermined, one of theenduring safeguards of law and order in this country is inevitably jeopardised.

Deciding to impose the maximum possible sentence, the judge added: “The misuse of a police officer’s role such as occurred in this case in order to kidnap, rape and murder a lone victim is of equal seriousness as a murder carried out for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.

“All of these situations attack different aspects of the fundamental underpinnings of our democratic way of life. It is this vital factor which in my view makes the seriousness of this case exceptionally high.”

Dame Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Met Police, has been in court for the two-day Old Bailey sentence, for a case which has put her leadership under renewed pressure.

Not only did Couzens use his status as a police officer to carry out the crimes, there are suggestions that signs of the danger he posed were not acted on.

A series of Independent Office for Police Conduct probes are underway, into the way allegations of indecent exposure against Couzens were handled in the weeks before the murder.

The watchdog has said 12 gross misconduct or misconduct notices have so far been served on police officers from several forces relating to the Couzens case.

The Met, along with other forces, is also under pressure to renew its vetting procedures for officers.

Lord Justice Fulford made a point in his sentencing remarks of praising the murder detectives who snared Couzens.

“It cannot be suggested in my view that the Metropolitan Police, even for a moment, attempted to close ranks to protect one of their own. Instead, remorselessly, efficiently and impartially the investigating officers followed all the available leads, resulting in an overwhelming case against the accused,” he said.

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