Sarah Everard was murdered by Wayne Couzens, then a serving police officer, in March 2021. Photo / Crown Prosecution Service
The mother of Sarah Everard has described how she is still tormented by the horrors of her daughter’s final hours.
In an emotional statement to coincide with the publication of a British report examining violence against women and girls, Sue Everard said she was still full of rage and torment over Sarah’s abduction, rape and murder by former Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.
The report, commissioned after the murder, also warned about the impact of “violent, misogynistic” pornography on boys and said there was a “critical failure” of police to answer basic questions about women attacked in public.
Lady Elish Angiolini, who was commissioned to carry out an inquiry into Sarah’s rape and murder, backed calls for a “good Samaritan law that would empower and encourage the public to intervene when they see someone in trouble as one of 13 new recommendations for the Government and the police to better tackle the problem of sexual violence”.
However, she said that recommendations she made almost two years ago – including barring those with convictions or cautions for sexual offences from serving in the police, such as Couzens – had still not been implemented.
In a foreword to the report, Everard wrote: “After four years the shock of Sarah’s death has diminished but we are left with an overwhelming sense of loss and of what might have been. I go through a turmoil of emotions – sadness, rage, panic, guilt and numbness.
“They used to come all in one day but as time goes by they are more widely spaced and to some extent time blunts the edges.
“I am not yet at the point when happy memories of Sarah come to the fore. When I think of her I can’t get past the horror of her last hours. I am still tormented by the thought of what she endured.
“They say the last stage of grief is acceptance. I am not sure what that means. I am accustomed to Sarah no longer being with us but I rage against it.”
Everard has rarely spoken publicly since her daughter’s death, but she previously spoke of her rage at Couzens in a victim impact statement following his trial.
She said: “I play it out in my mind. I go through the terrible sequence of events. I wonder when she realised she was in mortal danger; I wonder what her murderer said to her. When he strangled her, for how long was she conscious, knowing she would die? It is torture to think of it.
“Sarah was handcuffed, unable to defend herself, and there was no one to rescue her. She spent her last hours on this earth with the very worst of humanity.
“She lost her life because Wayne Couzens wanted to satisfy his perverted desires. It is a ridiculous reason, it is nonsensical. How could he value a human life so cheaply? I cannot comprehend it. I am incandescent with rage at the thought of it.”
Angiolini published the first part of her findings in February 2024, which described a string of “lamentable and repeated” missed policing opportunities to stop Couzens.
The second part of her inquiry, laid before Parliament and published yesterday has examined the wider issue of sexually motivated attacks by strangers.
She warned that police were still not doing enough to identify and crack down on sexual predators who target women in public spaces and said there needed to be a fundamental shift in society’s response to the epidemic of sexual violence.
While efforts to advise women on how to better protect themselves are welcome, Angiolini said the focus should be “squarely on identifying and targeting predatory men who commit these crimes”.
She also said more work needed to be done to understand the impact pornography and social media were having on women’s safety.
Describing how the first part of her report had highlighted Couzens’ interest in violent pornography, Angiolini told a press conference: “The gap between the online and physical worlds is closing, especially for the youngest and potentially the most vulnerable in our society. Online spaces are becoming increasingly violent and degrading places, where misogyny and hatred towards women not only flourishes but is disgustingly celebrated.
“I find it inconceivable to see how this cannot impact offending in the physical world too. I also find it inconceivable that we have not yet got a better grip on safety in online spaces.
“It needs to form a vital part of any strategy focused on the prevention of violence against women and girls, which must also outline how these harms may, in turn, affect men and boys.”
Angiolini also backed a recommendation from the aunt of murdered 35-year-old Zara Aleena for the Government to consider a “good Samaritan” law so that the public can help prevent sex crimes against women.
Her report found the public to be a “major untapped resource” that should be used to prevent these crimes, which she described as a “whole society issue” that requires a “whole society response”.
Her report recommended that, by 2026, the British Government should consider arguments for introducing a good Samaritan law and its potential impact on prevention.
Farah Naz, whose niece Aleena was stalked, assaulted and murdered in Ilford, east London, on June 26, 2022, said: “I am also encouraged to see support for exploring a good Samaritan law for the UK, to ensure that when someone is at risk or in danger, there is a clear expectation to act – to seek help, report, or intervene where safe to do so.
“I hope this recommendation is taken seriously and progresses with the urgency and commitment these cases demand.”
Other recommendations included urging forces to use AI to build profiles of offenders who can then be monitored and actively managed.
Angiolini also expressed deep concern over the lack of data around sexual violence, highlighting the fact that authorities were unable to provide statistics on how many women were raped by a stranger in a public space last year.
Sexually motivated crimes remain widespread, but efforts to prevent them are “fragmented, underfunded and overly reliant on short-term solutions”, she added.
In the report, Angiolini welcomed the work being carried out by some forces, including Scotland Yard’s V100 scheme to identify the most dangerous predators in the capital, but said these should be rolled out nationally.
She called on the Government to provide more funding for schemes such as Operation Vigilant – to identify sexual predators in the night-time economy – and Operation Soteria – to improve rape convictions.
Presenting the report, she said: “Prevention is most effective when it confronts those who cause harm. And yet too many opportunities to apprehend violent perpetrators have not been acted upon. Too many women are victimised and too many lives are lost or irrevocably changed forever.”
She added: “Sexually motivated crime against women in public spaces is a whole society problem. The whole of society now needs to play its part in preventing it.
“The recommendations I make are clear. I ask those responsible to implement the recommendations and fund the solutions to protect women.”
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