A British police officer was found to be responsible for the murder of a female victim after the prosecutor told a London jury on Wednesday that he kidnapped and raped her under the guise of a fake arrest amid the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Legal experts said the suspect made a fraudulent, premeditated arrest to kidnap the female victim identified as Sarah Everard. Prosecutor Tim Little noted that the victim was walking home after visiting a friend, which was a non-compliance issue with the region's lockdown regulations. He added that the suspect, Wayne Couzens, was off-duty at the time and proceeded to handcuff the woman.
Fake Arrest
Previously, Couzens pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping, and murdering Everard, who went missing on March 3. Authorities later found her burned body in the woods outside London a week after she was last seen.
Little said that Couzens' actions showed he was looking for, or hunting, for a young female who was alone so he could kidnap and rape her. He later saw Everard and proceeded to carry out his heinous crime, Yahoo News reported.
Officials said that after Couzens arrested Everard, he forced her into a rental car as the prosecutor noted that the suspect had his own car and did not want to use it to commit a crime. The suspect later transferred Everard's dead body into green bags he specifically bought for his plan.
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During a hearing in court, it was said that Couzens had an attraction to "brutal sexual pornography." However, the suspect's representative said it was only related to a single incident. The suspect joined the Civil Nuclear Constabulary in 2011 before being transferred to the Met in 2018. He also worked for the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command two years later as an authorized firearms officer.
In 2020, he carried out office-based work after not being able to carry a gun due to a damaged finger he got after a drilling incident in July of that year. But last December, he was deemed fit for full duties and returned to fieldwork, Dailymail reported.
Horrific Crime
A few days after Couzens' crime, he took his wife and two children on a trip to the same area where he disposed of Everard's body. He was also believed to have told his family that he was working on March 3, the day that he kidnapped the victim.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the victim's family spoke out emotionally and condemned Couzens for his actions against their family member. They demanded that the suspect, who had his eyes closed and head bowed during the hearing, look them in the eyes while they read their statements.
Susan Everard, the victim's mother, said her daughter spent her last moments on Earth with the worst scum of humanity. She said that Couzens killed the victim to satisfy his own selfish, perverted desires.
Authorities are expected to hand out Couzens' sentence on Thursday, which is believed to be a mandatory life sentence. However, the prosecution is seeking a whole life order, a term only granted in exceptional cases that has no possibility of parole, CNN reported.
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