The murder of Sarah Everard seemed unfathomable when the details first emerged. A young woman who should have had many years of life ahead of her was not merely failed by police who should have kept her safe, as so many women before her have been. She was murdered by a serving Metropolitan police officer, Wayne Couzens, who stopped and handcuffed her as she walked home before raping and strangling her and burning her body. His record of predatory behaviour soon emerged.
Yet three years on, the truth is even more shocking than it first seemed. The report by Lady Elish Angiolini, commissioned by the Home Office and published on Thursday, makes it clear that Couzens should never have been able to become a police officer, let alone an armed one. Three forces “could and should have stopped him”, but “red flags” were repeatedly ignored.
His alleged offending (including serious sexual assault against a child barely in her teens), his preference for extreme and violent pornography and his unmanaged debts dated back almost 20 years. The failure to properly investigate reports of indecent exposure – including days before the murder – reflected “apathy and disinterest”. Chillingly, Lady Elish makes it plain that another Couzens could be hiding in plain sight. Even after a review of his vetting clearance, the Met said that it would still have recruited him if given the same information.
Ms Everard’s murder shattered public trust in an essential institution. While a significant number of women already saw police as a potential threat to their safety, rather than as reliable protectors, the faith of many more was broken by Couzens’s crimes and other revelations that followed. Those included the jailing of another Met police officer, David Carrick, for offences including rape, assault and false imprisonment; the multiple failings in the case of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman and the grotesque disrespect shown to the victims; and vile, bigoted messages shared by police. A report by Lady Louise Casey published last year described institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia in the “rotten” Met.
Critically, Lady Elish’s report warns against treating Couzens as an aberration, warning that his crimes exist on a continuum with broader sexist and misogynistic behaviour. A failure to recognise this imperils female officers, who have also been the victims of predatory male colleagues, and makes the work of conscientious officers harder and more dangerous.
The inquiry’s second report will look at broader issues. But this first stage has already produced important recommendations with short deadlines, such as the rejection of any candidate with a caution or conviction for a sexual offence. Many of these address failings that police have been told to fix by previous reports. The sense of urgency they embody is in sharp contrast with the Home Office’s shamefully lacklustre response. It says that officers will be automatically suspended when charged with certain crimes: as the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, urged, that should happen when an investigation is launched. Mandatory vetting standards across forces should be underpinned by law.
The criminal justice system fails women on a daily basis. Experience shows the police will not change unless the government makes them do so. James Cleverly suggested that the whole of society must treat women’s lack of safety as a priority. But he is the home secretary: he can and must do better.
