Wayne Couzens has been handed a further 19 month custodial sentence for an instance of indecent exposure in the weeks before he tragically murdered Sarah Everard.
A court heard how the disgraced ex-Metropolitan Police officer was supposed to be working from home, when he flashed at a passing female cyclist.
Details of the 50-year-old's activities in the months leading up to the murder of Sarah Everard were heard at the Old Bailey, as he appeared for sentencing of a string of three-instances of indecent exposure.
Read more: Wayne Couzens pleads guilty to string of sex crimes before Sarah Everard murder
The Mirror reports Couzens is already serving a whole life jail sentence for the murder of Ms Everard. The flashing incidents took place in woodland and at a fast food restaurant in Kent between November 2020 and February 2021.
The last incident happened just a few days before 33-year-old Ms Everard was snatched in south London on March 3, 2021 and raped and murdered in the early hours of the following day. On Monday, Couzens appeared at the Old Bailey via video-link from Frankland Prison to be sentenced by Mrs Justice May.
Opening the facts, prosecutor Tom Little KC said Couzens had stood completely naked before a female cyclist in Ringwould Road near Dover on November 13 2020. At the time, Couzens was on duty and was supposed to be working from home in Deal, the court was told.
The prosecutor said the incident happened on an isolated narrow rural lane running inland between Deal and Dover. It is only a few miles from where the defendant took Ms Everard, having kidnapped her and after he had moved her from one vehicle to another in Dover.
Couzens stepped out of the woods and stood on a bank above the female cyclist as she rode uphill towards him. Mr Little said the defendant was 'totally naked' and masturbating as he looked at the woman.
He said: “She felt she had no choice but to continue cycling along that country lane. There were no words exchanged between them. She had a clear view of him and clearly remembered what he looked like.”
Around 50 metres further on, she cycled past a parked black car which looked 'old' and 'a little battered' but she was unable to recall the full number plate. As she rode on, the cyclist came across two women and told them what she had seen.
One of them said she was a police officer and would keep a look out, the court heard. When she reached a crossroads, the cyclist rang her husband and later reported the incident online to Kent Police, providing a description saying he was 'middle-aged with a slight paunch'.
At the time, Couzens had a black Seat car in poor condition but, in the absence of a number plate match, the investigation stalled. After Couzen’s arrest over the disappearance of Ms Everard, the cyclist recognised him from his picture.
Mr Little said: “As a result, she contacted the police again. She felt instant shock at seeing the picture and said she was 90 per cent sure it was him who masturbated in front of her. Further inquiries have confirmed that the defendant was due to be working from home in Deal on 13 November 2020 between 8am and 4pm.
"It follows that he was on duty at the time of the offence but was not at home.”
Traffic cameras and cell site data located Couzens in his Seat in that country area at that time. On March 25 2022, Couzens was interviewed about the incident and replied 'No comment', the court heard.
Two police officers will face misconduct proceedings for their handling of the allegations, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has said. A few months later, on different occasions on February 14 and 27 2021, Couzens exposed his genitals to staff at a drive-through fast food restaurant in Kent.
He sat in his car and looked straight at them as he showed his naked genitals while handing over his card to pay for food. The female staff affected were left 'shaken, upset and angry'.
On the last occasion, staff took a registration number and identified the car from CCTV as a black Seat which was registered to Couzens. A credit card in his name was used to pay, while ANPR and cell site data was used to track the defendant’s car in the area at the time of the incidents.
Mrs Justice May, said: "Wayne Couzens is currently serving a whole of life term for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. The sentence I will pass today will not affect that whole of life term.
"But sentencing also serves as a public recognition of the fact offences have been committed and to mark victim's courage and resilience in reporting the offences. Each of the victims is to be commended for reporting and following through.
"He was looking straight at them with his exposed genitals in their line of sight when their job required them to interact with him. He could have easily been traced by his car and his card. Nothing was done by police at the time. Sarah Everard was taken three days later on 3 March 2021.
"The fact that no police came to find him or his black car, to question him about these incidents, can only have served to confirm and strengthen in the defendant's mind a dangerous belief in his invincibility, in his power to dominate and sexually abuse women without being stopped."
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