Sarah Everard was murdered in 2021 by former Met Police constable Wayne Couzens.
The young woman was 33 years old when she vanished while making her way home from a friend’s house in South London, sparking a huge search to find her.
Who was Sarah Everard?
Sarah Everard was a 33-year-old market manager who lived in Brixton, London.
Originally from York, she gained a 2:1 in her geography degree at Durham University.
Sarah was one of three children and has been described as an “exceptional friend” who would drop everything for her pals.
Her brother and sister live in London.
Sarah’s dad Jeremy is a professor of electronics at York University and her mum Sue is a charity worker.
In February 2024 Sarah’s family released previously unseen pictures of her for a new documentary.
One photograph shows her at her Durham University graduation in the summer of 2008 while another sees Sarah poolside at Brockwell Lido near where she lived in Brixton.
The pictures were released as part of a BBC documentary which is scheduled to air just days after the three year anniversary of Sarah’s murder.
Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice will be shown on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
Wayne Couzens tried to kidnap a woman at knifepoint, raped 2 others & sexually attacked child before killing Sarah Everard
Shortly after Sarah’s death her family paid tribute to their “bright and beautiful daughter and sister”.
In a statement they said: “She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable.”
“She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour.
“She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all.
What happened to Sarah Everard?
In March 2021 Sarah vanished after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham, South London.
Detectives investigating her disappearance charged a serving Met Police officer in his 40s – later identified as Wayne Couzens.
A week after she disappeared Sarah’s body was discovered in a woodland in Ashford, Kent.
Post-mortem results revealed that Sarah died from compression to the neck and that she had been raped.
When did Sarah Everard go missing?
Sarah went missing on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 after leaving her friend’s house at about 9pm.
She began making her way home and spent 15 minutes on the phone with her boyfriend as she walked.
She was captured on CCTV at 9.30pm.
Sarah’s boyfriend reported her missing on March 4.
A huge search was launched and her remains were discovered nine days later in Kent.
At Couzen’s sentencing it was revealed that the former cop had used his warrant card to lure Sarah into his car.
He claimed he was on a “Covid patrol” and used lockdown laws to stage her false arrest.
Sarah was then driven for 80 miles from London to Kent, where her body was later found.
Who is Sarah Everard murderer Wayne Couzens?
Couzens is a former Met Police officer.
He pleaded guilty to murdering Sarah in September 2021, having previously admitted to her kidnapping and rape.
He was handed a whole-life order for his crimes, making him the first ever British cop to be given the sentence – the harshest a judge can impose.
Couzens is unlikely to ever be granted parole and has been told that he will die in prison.
After receiving his life sentence Couzens was later handed an additional 19 months in prison after pleading guilty to three indecent exposure offences.
One incident occurred in November 2020 and saw Couzens, who was on duty at the time, step out of a wooded area near his hometown of Deal and perform a sex act on himself as a female cycled past.
The other two took place at a McDonald’s in Kent and saw Couzens pulling his trousers down whilst paying for his food.
The landmark Angiolini Inquiry report, released in February 2024, revealed that Couzens had also tried to kidnap a woman at knifepoint and sexually assaulted a young girl before he killed Sarah.
He also, as revealed in the dossier, raped two women but went undetected by at least three police forces and the assaults were only discovered when the complainants came forward following his arrest for Sarah’s murder.
