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Hugo Daniel
Guest
The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has said that women who are approached by a lone plain clothes police officer and feel “really threatened” should “consider dialling 999”.
At a Scotland Yard Press conference after Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer, was sentenced to a whole life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, i asked Nick Ephgrave why a woman, or anyone else, should be expected to listen to a lone police officer if stopped by them now.
Mr Ephgrave, who said he had three daughters in London who have asked him the same question, said it was “very unusual for a plain clothed officer to be deployed on their own”.
He added: “Anybody that’s engaged by a single police officer in plain clothes in light of everything that we know now needs to be thinking ‘ok how can I be sure?’.
“If you are not happy with who you are dealing with, other colleagues haven’t arrived, you haven’t heard a radio going, you haven’t seen any requests for checks or requests for assistance to come – if that’s the situation you find yourself in then you need to look for assistance, you maybe need to grab hold of a passer-by if there is one, flag a car down, knock on a door.
“Whatever you need to do, potentially if you feel really threatened you need to consider dialling 999.”
Earlier, speaking to reporters outside the Old Bailey, Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick said “I am so sorry” and admitted that trust in the force is damaged.
Couzens used Covid laws, his police warrant card and handcuffs to falsely arrest 33-year-old marketing executive Ms Everard before taking her on an 80-mile journey that led to her rape and murder.
He snatched her off the street while she was walking home from a friend’s house in Clapham on 3 March.
Couzens then took Ms Everard drove her to secluded woodland, in Ashford, Kent before raping her and strangling her with his police belt. He later burnt her body in a fly-tipped refrigerator, prosecutors said.
Mr Ephgrave spoke alongside Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin who led the investigation into Sarah Everard’s disappearance.
DCI Goodwin confirmed the Met have a number of “inquiries ongoing” to establish if Couzens has committed other crimes but said there was nothing yet on their radar close to the seriousness of his crimes against Ms Everard.
She said: “As you would expect we have a number of inquiries ongoing to establish whether Wayne Couzens was responsible for any other offences. However I can assure you that thus far there is nothing of the nature or seriousness of the events for which he has been imprisoned today.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is looking at whether the Met failed to investigate two indecent exposure allegations made against Couzens that took place at a McDonald’s 72 hours before Ms Everard was abducted.
Mr Ephgrave said Couzens had not been identified by name as a suspect in the indecent exposures by the time Ms Everard was abducted but a vehicle linked to him was identified, and what was done with that information is still being probed by the IOPC.
He confirmed a file is with the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the allegations, adding “they may or may not make a decision to charge”.
Sarah Everard murder: Met chief Cressida Dick says ‘I am so sorry’ and admits trust in police is damaged
The IOPC is also looking at how Couzens managed to became a Metropolitan Police officer after another allegation of indecent exposure dating back to 2015 also emerged.
Kent Police has confirmed that an indecent exposure complaint was made in June 2015 by someone who reported seeing a man driving a car naked from the waist down. The man was alleged to be Couzens.
Mr Ephgrave said Kent police had investigated the 2015 incident and took no further action and added: “One of a number of checks that forms part of the vetting process may not have been undertaken correctly when he joined the Met.
“This check related to a vehicle that was registered to Couzens that was linked to an allegation of indecent exposure that was reported to Kent Police in 2015.”
But he said the review into the vetting of Couzens concluded that even if the information relating to the 2015 had been known, Couzens would still have passed vetting.
Asked if that would be the same today, he added: “Yes, because an allegation that is not shown to be correct or is not investigated and found to be right doesn’t name someone as a suspect, wouldn’t qualify as someone to automatically fail vetting, it might prompt some questions of course and you look at other things”
He added the “vetting officer is entitled to rely upon the investigation of another police officer and not have to reinvestigate everything that they’ve done otherwise the job would become untenable.”
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At a Scotland Yard Press conference after Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer, was sentenced to a whole life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, i asked Nick Ephgrave why a woman, or anyone else, should be expected to listen to a lone police officer if stopped by them now.
Mr Ephgrave, who said he had three daughters in London who have asked him the same question, said it was “very unusual for a plain clothed officer to be deployed on their own”.
He added: “Anybody that’s engaged by a single police officer in plain clothes in light of everything that we know now needs to be thinking ‘ok how can I be sure?’.
“If you are not happy with who you are dealing with, other colleagues haven’t arrived, you haven’t heard a radio going, you haven’t seen any requests for checks or requests for assistance to come – if that’s the situation you find yourself in then you need to look for assistance, you maybe need to grab hold of a passer-by if there is one, flag a car down, knock on a door.
“Whatever you need to do, potentially if you feel really threatened you need to consider dialling 999.”
Earlier, speaking to reporters outside the Old Bailey, Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick said “I am so sorry” and admitted that trust in the force is damaged.
Couzens used Covid laws, his police warrant card and handcuffs to falsely arrest 33-year-old marketing executive Ms Everard before taking her on an 80-mile journey that led to her rape and murder.
He snatched her off the street while she was walking home from a friend’s house in Clapham on 3 March.
Couzens then took Ms Everard drove her to secluded woodland, in Ashford, Kent before raping her and strangling her with his police belt. He later burnt her body in a fly-tipped refrigerator, prosecutors said.
Mr Ephgrave spoke alongside Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin who led the investigation into Sarah Everard’s disappearance.
DCI Goodwin confirmed the Met have a number of “inquiries ongoing” to establish if Couzens has committed other crimes but said there was nothing yet on their radar close to the seriousness of his crimes against Ms Everard.
She said: “As you would expect we have a number of inquiries ongoing to establish whether Wayne Couzens was responsible for any other offences. However I can assure you that thus far there is nothing of the nature or seriousness of the events for which he has been imprisoned today.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is looking at whether the Met failed to investigate two indecent exposure allegations made against Couzens that took place at a McDonald’s 72 hours before Ms Everard was abducted.
Mr Ephgrave said Couzens had not been identified by name as a suspect in the indecent exposures by the time Ms Everard was abducted but a vehicle linked to him was identified, and what was done with that information is still being probed by the IOPC.
He confirmed a file is with the Crown Prosecution Service relating to the allegations, adding “they may or may not make a decision to charge”.
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Sarah Everard murder: Met chief Cressida Dick says ‘I am so sorry’ and admits trust in police is damaged
The IOPC is also looking at how Couzens managed to became a Metropolitan Police officer after another allegation of indecent exposure dating back to 2015 also emerged.
Kent Police has confirmed that an indecent exposure complaint was made in June 2015 by someone who reported seeing a man driving a car naked from the waist down. The man was alleged to be Couzens.
Mr Ephgrave said Kent police had investigated the 2015 incident and took no further action and added: “One of a number of checks that forms part of the vetting process may not have been undertaken correctly when he joined the Met.
“This check related to a vehicle that was registered to Couzens that was linked to an allegation of indecent exposure that was reported to Kent Police in 2015.”
But he said the review into the vetting of Couzens concluded that even if the information relating to the 2015 had been known, Couzens would still have passed vetting.
Asked if that would be the same today, he added: “Yes, because an allegation that is not shown to be correct or is not investigated and found to be right doesn’t name someone as a suspect, wouldn’t qualify as someone to automatically fail vetting, it might prompt some questions of course and you look at other things”
He added the “vetting officer is entitled to rely upon the investigation of another police officer and not have to reinvestigate everything that they’ve done otherwise the job would become untenable.”
Continue reading...