SARAH EVERARD - the search for Justice - Tue 5/3 - bbc 1 9pm

[Blondeshavemorefun]

this case always touches my heart as she was found quite local to me and I remember the searches 🥲

glad her family have the knowledge to help closure if that’s ever possible

The murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer who abducted her as she walked home in March 2021 was a watershed moment for the nation.

It brought to the fore devastating issues within our police forces and highlighted the extent of violence against women and girls in our society - an issue recently declared a national priority alongside terrorism and organised crime.

This new documentary for BBC One and iPlayer looks at the Met’s investigation into Sarah’s murder, how this devastating crime unfolded and its impact.

Told by those closely involved in the case from the outset, many of whom are speaking on camera for the first time, including the Senior Investigating Officer, the Prosecuting Barrister and Sarah’s local MP.

Since Sarah’s murder, the narrative of ‘one bad apple’ has been destroyed. The force was placed in special measures and a major review of the Met Police found a culture of denial, widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism.

The repercussions continue to be far reaching, with police forces up and down the country forced to confront the culture and behaviour in their own ranks.

An Independent Inquiry launched by the Home Office is underway, to examine how this tragedy could happen, and, in the words of the then Home Secretary, the “unimaginable failures in policing” Sarah’s murder has exposed. Since Sarah's case, hundreds of police officers continue to face sexual assault allegations, including one of the UK's most prolific sex offenders, offending over a twenty-year career in the Metropolitan Police.

The film is being made by BBC Studios Documentary Unit. During the making of this film, the production team has been in close contact with Sarah’s parents. They hope that it will bring increased focus to issues of women’s safety, and abuse of power by police and other in positions of authority.

Emma Loach, BBC Lead Commissioning Editor, Documentaries, says: “The murder of Sarah Everard sent shock waves across the country and ignited an urgent conversation about police failings and violence against women and girls. This is an important and timely film and we, like Sarah’s family, hope it will contribute to the ongoing dialogue around the issues raised.”
Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice is a 1x60’ for BBC One and iPlayer, made by BBC Studios Documentary Unit.

It was commissioned by Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries. The Executive Producers are Emily Lawson and Kirsty Cunningham, the Director is Lottie Gammon, the Producers are Clio Symington, Celia Jennison and Florence Barrow. The Archive Producer is Peter Scott. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Emma Loach.

FS
Note to editors
Sarah Everard’s family politely request no contact or interview requests are made.
We will not be featuring pictures of Wayne Couzens next to Sarah in the film, and in line with the family's wishes, we would ask that the press respects the same.

DH and I were talking about the riots that came after the vigil for Sarah and the appalling police behaviour towards members of the public. We also remembered how members of the Tory government said that women shouldn't go out alone dressed up like they're "asking for it" and men should be on a curfew and have to be home for 6pm...
I watched the documentary tonight and was horrified to see the WhatsApp messages two police officers sent each other about a women they had arrested, absolutely disgusting.

This kind of man will make every effort to join an organisation that gives them access to, and power over, the victims they wish to attack/ groom/ exploit.
We know this. We have known it for ever. Yet still there is denial, cover up, institutional collusion.
Yes I know not all men. But enough, and it is mostly men. Sporadic investigations and inquiries are not enough.
His colleagues nicknamed him "Rapist". They knew and did nothing.

I watched it and it was such a hard watch

I used to live off Poynders Road, I’ve walked that exact route Sarah did, I know exactly where those flats are on Poynders Road.

the one bit that gets me is London to Dover is a really really long drive. The terror and fear she must have felt on the car journey. I can’t even begin to imagine

The problem is fundamental. Yes, it's not all men, but it's enough men to either do this stuff or collude with it ( they called him 'The Rapist' at work) or dismiss it to mean that VAW still isn't taken seriously, especially sexual violence which is still taken as a bit of a joke or where a rape victim is pretty much always the one on trial. Then there's this appalling rough sex defense which has crept in recently. 'She was asking for it's taken to its horrendous conclusion.
From Savile to Warboys and everything in-between. Women are not believed, even if there are dozens of witnesses.
The Emma Caldwell case in Scotland recently. She was killed in 2005 and the police interview the murderer many times and dismissed him as a suspect letting him go on to commit many more rapes. Of course the witnesses were women, many sex workers, who weren't taken seriously.
Women are not valued in our society.

What your comment came across as, to me, was implying that Sarah Everard should have known somehow that her "arrest" was unreasonable and she should somehow have refused it.

I was interested in whether people had actually got arrested for breaking Covid rules for my own knowledge. Clearly that’s a question that I should have asked Google and not this thread

Start your own thread if you want to discuss policing of covid rules. We are discussing a woman's abduction, rape, and murder by a serving police officer using the tools and authority of his job to carry out said murder.

This made my blood boil when they guy said it!!!!

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9369547/Cop-Sarah-Everard-crime-scene-sent-vile-parody-Highway-Code-seven-officers.html

These are some of the men who are still serving and their attitudes. They were not sacked.

I would double the pay and make the criteria for joining much tougher. The Met has some scummy people serving in it and the discipline system should include immediate criteria for being demoted for this kind of crap. The lack of judgment is vile.

I don't think any woman of working age when Sarah was murdered will forget what the Met did

I don't think any woman of any age will forget. And then compounded it by their thuggish behaviour at the memorial to a woman who'd been killed by one of their own. Talk about not getting why women were angry.

He was a policeman so she wouldn’t have maced him and he handcuffed her on the street, there was a witness to that, as much as it pains me to write this. She was, for all and intents and purposes, completely defenceless. That is what he did with his power as a policeman.

That's a fast way to get your DD into jail, at the mercy of male prison warders and whichever male prisoners are claiming to be female this week.

They mentioned in a press conference about how if women feel threatened they should flag down a bus. At the time this was quite rightly shredded on SM for how ridiculous and futile it was - assuming that there's a bus to flag down, that the driver will stop, that if he stops he'll help, but above all because they were STILL putting the onus on women to keep themselves safe - a lot of us said at the time that if women didn't do this and were attacked it would be turned back on us as not following police advice about our safety.

There wasn't any mention of 'let's stop police assaulting and killing women.' Just stupid advice to women about what they should do if they felt unsafe, with a subtext of, 'well, we gave you advice, if you don't follow it what can you expect?'

ODFOD.

You’ve just decided to put words in my mouth when I implied nothing of the sort. How in God’s name was Sarah meant to know that a real police officer with a real warrant card was actually abducting her and not arresting her?

You may have missed where I said, ‘Do they mention how this evil monster was able to stop Sarah and make her believe that she was under arrest? I know it was supposedly for breaking Covid rules but did Couzens ever admit what he actually said to Sarah? My question is self explanatory and you can see that as two posters have been able to provide me with a straightforward answer.

Get off your high horse and stop acting like I’m also not here to discuss a woman's abduction, rape, and murder by a serving police officer using the tools and authority of his job to carry out said murder

There seems to be a common theme of police officers using Whatsapp to communicate these disgusting things. It just shows how toxic the workplace must be if they feel comfortable enough to send such messages and don’t expect to be reported…

I've noticed you seem to be very attacking generally on MN...

Anyway, a police detective (now retired) friend, said exactly the same. It's legal on the continent.

Yes, true. I'm just saying generally I'd use something like mace. When I was attacked and mugged e.g. if I'd had mace on me, I could have used it. Note 'could'. Takes a split second for someone to attack you.

Managed not to cry until saw the words on the plaque on the bench.

Seeing him interviewed - he is a huge great lummock of a man whatever she had tried she had no chance.

I found this portrait of you on my phone.

Carrying mace is legally the same as carrying a gun and comes with the same sentencing options as any other Section Five firearms offence. These facts don't give a shit about how you feel about my tone.

Again, attacking. You really don't need to resort to this at a civilised time in the morning.

I am aware mace is illegal in this country, I was simply saying if... it was used. Have a lovely day and get help for your aggression.

It's sad to see women turning on each other ☹️

I felt quite stirred seeing all the women at the memorial. They kept saying “people” but it was mostly women there. Even Kate Middleton went there earlier in the day. I thought more of her for that.

Indeed. Careers chosen by abusers to facilitate abuse. Some men 'become' women to continue abuse in women's jails. Locally to me, Andrew Millar, who was 'living as a woman', requested to be charged & sentenced as the man he is. Once he is released he can change his ID again & continue to offend. He too had a history of offending. His victim was walking home at teatime. She was 12 years old. RIP Sarah Everard. Any one of us. ALL of us.

I was watching a programme yesterday (could have been on my5 but may have been youtube) about Sarah

At the end,it said that if,as a woman you are stopped by a policeman and are not sure about him,ask to see his warrent card (sure,they all carry them-he did) and you can demand to speak to control over his radio

If your STILL not sure,just run

Sure,he won't run after you and you won't be in more trouble for legging it (if it turns out to be genuine)

(Personally I'm fat,pre-menopausal and have arthritis in my left knee-id hobble away at best)

I used to trust the police but from my own experience and this of sarah,I don't trust them as far as I can sling them)

The advice for women in the aftermath about flagging down a bus etc is simply ludicrous as others have pointed out. How about you vet police officers properly?!

The other people i think about in this whole sorry mess are Couzens’ wife & children. She was interviewed early on expressing her horror at what he had done & she also wrote a letter to Sarah Everard’s family to express her condolences. I know her key aim was to protect her children & I don’t know if they moved abroad. Horrendous thing to find out about your husband/ dad. I hope they are ok.

Just watched the documentary. Very respectful and sobering.

There were 2 things that stood out for me.

...1. The whatsapp messages between Couzens and the 2 othe police officers.
I thought I had seen everything and I thought nothing can shock me anymore.
How wrong I am!
Everything was upsetting, but reading those messages about rape and mocking DV victims really got to me.
I'm struggling to articulate why this has upset me.
I haven't quite got my head around why these men thought it was funny - but then again maybe I dont want to.

...2. The excellent way the documentary dispelled the 'bad apple' narrative the Met and some politicians tried to use, to make excuses.
I like how the documentary handled this.
No 'shock' tactics, no exaggerating, no emotive language. Just pure factual evidence, detailing examples of other policemen who have abused women.

I too was incensed by this. That the onus is on women to take steps to get themselves out of a dangerous situation v how about men not putting them in that position to start with!!

I've never seen a police warrant card. What am I meant to be looking at?
I'm a decent runner, I run 10ks or half marathons at a good pace. Over a short distance however, my 60 year old non runner husband could easily catch me, and my son has been able to outsprint me since he was 10! I wouldn't fancy my chances of running away.

And, why are bus drivers somehow responsible? They might have a few seconds to decide if this is someone in danger or someone that has missed the bus/mucking about while also concentrating on traffic and any potential incidents inside the bus!