Wayne Couzens, the former police officer who murdered Sarah Everard, deserves “decades in jail”, but his sentence is excessive, his lawyer has said. The former PC was handed a whole-life term last year for the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard after he abducted her in south London on March 3 2021.
It was the first time the sentence had been imposed for a single murder of an adult not committed in the course of a terror attack. On Wednesday, senior judges heard challenges or appeals to the prison sentences of five killers, including the whole-life terms of Couzens and double murderer Ian Stewart.
A bearded Couzens, wearing a grey jumper, appeared by video-link from HMP Frankland at the start of the hearing for his appeal against his whole-life term. Members of Ms Everard’s family were present in the Royal Courts of Justice as the his appeal was discussed.
