The parents of Sarah Everard have attended the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland as the issue of violence against women was highlighted.
The King’s representative, Lady Elish Angiolini, who is Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly, chaired the Angiolini Inquiry which was set up in the wake of the murder of Miss Everard by Wayne Couzens, then a serving Metropolitan Police officer, in March 2021.
Miss Everard’s parents Sue and Jeremy attended the opening of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh on Friday as guests of Lady Elish.
Lady Elish said she was “honoured” they were present, adding she had come to know the Everards well over the course of the inquiry.
She told the assembly: “I know that your collective welcome, love, and prayers will mean a great deal to them.
“You remember Sarah alongside many other women whose names we have also held in our hearts, lost to violence in our streets and our public spaces.
“I have since been tasked by the Government with looking more widely at the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces.
“I published that report some months ago with a number of recommendations intended to help make our streets safer for women, and in doing so, safer for men also.
“While some of those recommendations dealt with practical measures, it became clear that the individuals who make up the wider community remain a major untapped resource in crime prevention.
“The notion of a community that cares and acts to prevent harm to others is hardly new. It is, after all, at the very heart of the gospel.”
She highlighted the idea of the Good Samaritan and mentioned a proposal by the aunt of Zara Aleena, who was murdered in London in 2022, for a Good Samaritan law, requiring witnesses to act when they see someone in danger.
Lady Elish added: “There are encouraging examples already emerging, such as specialist training courses for bar and security staff to help them recognise when someone is vulnerable, to challenge predatory behaviour and to respond to spiking incidents.
“Our society is often portrayed as increasingly introspective and self-interested.
“My experience over many years challenges that characterisation.”
Miss Everard was raped and killed by Couzens after he tricked her into thinking she could be arrested for breaking Covid lockdown rules as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London on March 3, 2021.
Couzens was given a whole-life jail term at the end of his Old Bailey trial in September 2021.
Rt Rev Gordon Kennedy, the new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said they were “privileged” Lady Elish had invited Miss Everard’s parents to the event.
He said: “We remember Sarah, and we remember too many other women.
“And with you, we pray that the inquiry chaired by Lady Elish will be a comfort to many, that the recommendations made will have a real impact in our communities, that all women will be safe among us.
“Sue and Jeremy, may I assure you that you have been and will remain in our prayers.”
Lady Elish is the King’s personal representative at the annual assembly in Edinburgh, which runs from Friday until Monday, and was re-appointed to the role this year.
Last year she became the first practising Roman Catholic to take up the role, after legislation was passed at Westminster to allow the change.
