More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
The firearms officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard was deployed as a guard in the Houses of Parliament, the Metropolitan Police has comfirmed.
Former Met Police officer Wayne Couzens 48, previously of Freemens Way in Deal, was handed a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey on Thursday by Lord Justice Fulford, who said his “warped, selfish and brutal” offences had eroded confidence in the police.
KMTV report on Wayne Couzens being given a whole life sentence
Couzens abducted Ms Everard, 33, as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3 - then drove to the outskirts of Dover where he raped and murdered her, before dumping her body in Great Chart, near Ashford.
The Met Police had previously said Couzens moved to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in February 2020 where his primary role was to patrol diplomatic premises, mainly embassies.
On Saturday, a Met Spokesman said: “Couzens was deployed to armed static protection duties on the Parliamentary Estate on five occasions from February to July 2020.”
The Parliamentary Estate includes the Palace of Westminster – the location of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Couzens was said in court to have been “attracted to brutal sexual pornography” as far back as 2002, while the police watchdog previously said he was linked to a flashing incident in 2015 and two more days before he killed Ms Everard.
According to the Sunday Times, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, said he was “extremely concerned” and would be seeking answers from Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.
He told the newspaper: “Like everyone, I have been sickened by the depravity of Wayne Couzens — and heartbroken for the family of Sarah Everard.
“I have asked the Met to meet me urgently to discuss how this person could have been deemed suitable for deployment here.
“Further, I will be seeking reassurance that at no time was anyone on the parliamentary estate put at risk."
Meanwhile former colleagues of Couzens' have revealed two incidents involving prostitutes, according to the Sun newspaper.
On one occasion he is said to have been accompanied by a prostitute to at a party with Met colleagues at the Hilton in Maidstone, Kent; while another time a prostitute turned up at his station demanding payment.
Revelations of previous incidents linked to Couzens have led to calls for so-called 'low-level' sex abuse crimes to be taken more seriously by police.
Figures show just 6 percent of 'flashing' crimes ended up in court, and The Prime Minister has said it's "infuriating" that police forces aren't taking violent crimes against women seriously enough.
With the total number of rape cases ending in conviction hitting an all time low last year of 3 percent - Boris Johnson's promising to speed up the conviction process in courts.
