A police officer used Covid-19 lockdown regulations to kidnap Sarah Everard in a “false arrest” before raping her, strangling her and burning her body, a court has heard.

Wayne Couzens, 48, used his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card and handcuffs to snatch Ms Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3.

The firearms officer, who had clocked off from a 12-hour shift at the American Embassy that morning, drove to a remote rural area north-west of Dover in Kent, where he parked up and raped Ms Everard.

The marketing executive, who lived in Brixton, south London, had been strangled with Couzen’s police belt by 2.30am the following morning.

Married Couzens burned her body in a refrigerator in an area of woodland he owned in Hoads Wood, near Ashford, Kent, before dumping the remains in a nearby pond.

Just days later, amid extensive publicity about Ms Everard’s disappearance, he took his family on a day out to the woods, allowing his two children to play close by.

Couzens was arrested on March 9 after police trawled through some 1,800 hours of CCTV footage.

Police waited for two hours before moving in to detain Couzens at his Deal home, during which time he had wiped his phone.

In an emergency police interview, Couzens falsely claimed he had been forced to pick up a woman and hand her over to a gang after getting into “financial shit”.

The following day, police dogs searching the woods found Ms Everard’s badly burnt remains.

Couzens has pleaded guilty to kidnap, rape and murder and faces a possible full life sentence when he is sentenced by Lord Justice Fulford at the Old Bailey on Thursday.

Couzens sat in the dock with his head bowed on Wednesday as prosecutor Tom Little QC opened the case in front of a packed courtroom, including Ms Everard’s family.

He said Ms Everard’s disappearance was one of the most widely publicised missing person investigations the country has ever seen.

After her body was discovered a week later, it became summarised on social media by the hashtag “she was just walking home”, which did not completely describe what had happened, he said.

“Whilst it is impossible to summarise what the defendant did to Sarah Everard in just five words, if it had to be done then it would be more appropriate to do so as deception, kidnap, rape, strangulation, fire,” said Mr Little.

The court heard Ms Everard was described by a former long-term boyfriend as “extremely intelligent, savvy and streetwise” and “not a gullible person”.

He said he could not envisage her getting into a car with someone she did not know “unless by force or manipulation”, said the prosecutor.

Couzens had worked on uniformed Covid patrols in late January to enforce coronavirus regulations, so would have known what language to use to those who may have breached them, he continued.

He is thought to have been wearing his police belt with handcuffs and a rectangular black pouch, similar to a pepper spray holder, when he kidnapped Ms Everard as she walked home.

“The fact she had been to a friend’s house for dinner at the height of the early 2021 lockdown made her more vulnerable to and more likely to submit to an accusation that she had acted in breach of the Covid regulations in some way,” said Mr Little.

The court heard how Couzens had booked a hire car, adding: “His movements were consistent with the defendant looking for, or hunting, for a lone young female to kidnap and rape, which is precisely what he did.”

CCTV footage played in court shows Couzens raising his left arm, holding a warrant card, before handcuffing Ms Everard and putting her into the back of the car.

A passing couple witnessed the kidnapping but mistook it for an arrest by an undercover officer, the court heard.

“They were in fact witnessing the kidnapping of Sarah Everard,” Mr Little said.

“She was detained by fraud. The defendant using his warrant card and handcuffs as well as his other police issue equipment to affect a false arrest.”

Couzens worked for the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command after joining the Met in 2018, having transferred from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

He was sacked by the force after entering guilty pleas.

Scotland Yard said in a statement ahead of the sentencing hearing: “We are sickened, angered and devastated by this man’s crimes which betray everything we stand for.

“Our thoughts are with Sarah’s family and her many friends. It is not possible for us to imagine what they are going through.

“We recognise his actions raise many questions and concerns but we will not be commenting further until the hearing is complete.”