Wayne Couzens has entered a guilty plea to Sarah Everard's murder

[RickiTarr]

Thank goodness for that.

At least it spares the family a full trial.

I hope the sentence is a whole life tariff.

Yes, maybe there will be a press conference after sentencing/

It’s just such a peculiar case. She was dreadfully unlucky. I’ve been up and down that road so many times, it just doesn’t feel real.

Horrific summary in this Times thread

twitter.com/thetimes/status/1413441128406257667

@Georgieporgie29

What happened to his partner/girlfriend, wasn’t she arrested too? Maybe some details will come from her. Sarah’s poor poor family, I can’t even imagine what they are going through.

The case against her was dropped. Was it assisting an offender or similar that she was originally arrested on suspicion of? I wonder whether there was some element of that being psychological leverage against him when trying to extract the full confession?

Yes, there probably is more to come out.

I still find I'm so angry about it all. Right now, in Scotland (not the MET but still), a woman has had the full force of the law thrown at her, they threatened her kids with social services, and is going to be hauled up in court later this month. For tweets. Tweets standing up for women's sex based rights.

And what happened about this indecent exposure? Pretty much fuck all. HE should have been investigated, HE should have had the rule book thrown at him, HE should have been watched. But no. Free to go. Free to go ahead and commit this awful crime. VAWG and they don't give a shit until it's too late.

More will probably come out. Lessons will be learned. And I'm fed up of it. I'm fed up of "lessons learned". As far as I'm concerned heads need to roll and he needs throwing in a dark pit to rot.

[quote RickiTarr]According to the Guardian a police inspectorate investigation has already cleared the police of wrongdoing. This doesn’t really make sense. Any of it;

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/09/wayne-couzens-pleads-guilty-murdering-sarah-everard[/quote]
I think the bit about being cleared of wrongdoing relates to the way the vigil for Sarah was policed - so, still annoying that that's been dismissed so easily, but it's not about clearing police of any wrongdoing re the crime itself or the investigation of Sarah's disappearance. Not that clear in the article though.

Thanks @hayley037

From that thread;

“He also awaits a Crown Prosecution Service charging decision over alleged indecent exposure three days before Everard was abducted

“Officers are understood to have had enough information to uncover the perpetrator but did not make the link to Couzens until after the murder”

So how have the police been cleared of wrongdoing?

Then a pretty clear “ Couzens has today pleaded guilty, but this case is not over”, so the press have some idea what is still to emerge but can’t say yet.

They’re also saying they do think he used his warrant card to gain her cooperation. There was some speculation at the time he might have shown her his police ID and pretended to be enforcing lockdown rules. What woman would think to scream and run when shown a police warrant card by a man who pulled up seconds before? It would put you completely off balance, even if you remained wary. It’s like a nightmare, it really is. I just hope it was quick and that she wasn’t conscious throughout that long drive.

Did they know each other or was it completely random?

Some kind of MH mitigation still to come? Yes maybe.

Well he certainly started laying the foundations for that very early on. From calling his employer the day after abducting her and saying he didn’t want to carry a firearm and taking sick leave. And then bashing his head twice in police custody. All very calculated. I hope the court can see right through it all.

I think the bit about being cleared of wrongdoing relates to the way the vigil for Sarah was policed - so, still annoying that that's been dismissed so easily, but it's not about clearing police of any wrongdoing re the crime itself or the investigation of Sarah's disappearance. Not that clear in the article though.

Ah yes, I think you’re right @ScouseQueen - not brilliant but better, in that case.

@x2boys

Did they know each other or was it completely random?

Completely random. It’s exactly the scenario every woman has thought about and feared.

But then he didn’t do the normal thing and hang out for Manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Maybe the Police have regular phych evaluations for officers who carry firearms so that defence would not fly.

@MotionActivatedDog

Some kind of MH mitigation still to come? Yes maybe.

Well he certainly started laying the foundations for that very early on. From calling his employer the day after abducting her and saying he didn’t want to carry a firearm and taking sick leave. And then bashing his head twice in police custody. All very calculated. I hope the court can see right through it all.

I would have thought he would have had a metal health assessment, when I used to work in mental health on the psychiatric intensive care unit, we would occasionally have a patient admitted for a mental health assessment, professional, s are able to tell the difference when somebody is claiming to hear voices for example to somebody who is acutely psychotic and actually hearing voices.

Maybe the Police have regular phych evaluations for officers who carry firearms so that defence would not fly.

Yes that would make sense, but then you’ve got the obvious riposte to that that psych evals that don’t pick up incipient sex offending and homicidal intent amongst armed officers might not be all that. Although I suppose that leads you into a “do you have to be unbalanced to kill” debate, and we don’t want all our murderers having access to insanity defences.

Any idea how armed officers would be screened @x2boys ?

The article says that today is not a day for asking what happened to her. I don't see why. Sentencing is the next date and that won't reveal it, will it? Why should he not have to say? I see he can't be forced but I don't think he should be let off the hook. Not that I have any legal understanding. Unlike him, obviously.

It’s scary that he probably used his warrant card and then the government response was “we’ll have more undercover police patrolling the nighttime economy”, because the historic use of undercover policing and how they behaved towards women, the handling of police conduct issues (here the indecent exposure, also how officers accused of DV are —not— dealt with, corruption and incompetence) and how women are treated by the police don’t exactly reassure me.

@RickiTarr

Any idea how armed officers would be screened *@x2boys* ?

No, sorry, he will have had a full assessment I would have thought since he was arrested But I have no idea how they assess armed officers

I wonder how his guilty plea will affect his sentence - usual is up to 1/3 reduction for a guilty plea, depending on when the plea is made. I don't know how that affects cases like this where we would really expect a life sentence.

I'm also glad a jury has been spared sitting through the misery details for days on end in a trial.

I did train in court reporting a lifetime ago, so I’m a bit rusty, (and soon concluded it wasn’t for me TBH). It’s normal for the police and sometimes the CPS to comment after sentencing, especially when it has been a guilty plea and therefore the details haven’t come out at trial. The family often issue a statement after sentencing, too. There could be reporting restrictions (even despite no full trial), and those are usually lifted after verdict or sentencing, as appropriate. So, as far as I remember the procedure, that’s all normal enough here.

It’s just the whole police officer angle that’s making me twitchy.

By pure coincidence, YouTube threw up a documentary about Rachel Nickell this week, which I watched. There have been cases like that which the Met have made a complete balls up of. Shockingly so. I don’t trust them not to be self- protective.

No, sorry, he will have had a full assessment I would have thought since he was arrested
But I have no idea how they assess armed officers

Maybe that is one of the things that will come under scrutiny?

@Rainbowshine

It’s scary that he probably used his warrant card and then the government response was “we’ll have more undercover police patrolling the nighttime economy”, because the historic use of undercover policing and how they behaved towards women, the handling of police conduct issues (here the indecent exposure, also how officers accused of DV are —not— dealt with, corruption and incompetence) and how women are treated by the police don’t exactly reassure me.

Exactly that. Well articulated. I have this free floating unease about it all.

@Tinpotspectator

The article says that today is not a day for asking what happened to her. I don't see why. Sentencing is the next date and that won't reveal it, will it? Why should he not have to say? I see he can't be forced but I don't think he should be let off the hook. Not that I have any legal understanding. Unlike him, obviously.

The judge will pass sentencing remarks. Details will be within that document which the public will have access to will reveal more details of what happened to her.

If it's the same article I read, j was absolutely disgusted by them leading with her having had some wine. Mentioned it twice. Utterly irrelevant and a dog whistle for victim blaming

The judge will pass sentencing remarks. Details will be within that document which the public will have access to will reveal more details of what happened to her.

Then presumably the results of the police internal investigation will also be released separately?

They need to be so transparent.