Sarah Everard ‘murder suspect’ ‘flashed in London takeaway’ THREE days before her disappearance

Scotland Yard is facing an inquiry after it was revealed the policeman arrested over the alleged murder of Sarah Everard was accused of flashing someone in a takeaway just 72 hours before she was kidnapped – but remained on armed duty.

Wayne Couzens, 48, was reported to police after allegedly exposing himself at a south London restaurant on February 28. Miss Everard disappeared on March 3 at about 9pm.

Three days after the flashing incident Couzens is said to have finished a six-hour shift guarding the US Embassy near Battersea Powerstation at 8pm on the same night she ‘vanished into thin air’ as she walked home to nearby Brixton.

Police arrested the suspect following a tip-off about a car allegedly spotted on a motorist’s dashcam near to where the missing woman was last seen. Yesterday a CCTV clip showing a woman passenger in a car was being examined.

The police watchdog has launched an independent inquiry into whether the Metropolitan Police ‘responded appropriately’ to the report of indecent exposure and if it did enough to investigate the diplomatic protection officer, who was not removed from duty. 

Two officers called to the alleged flashing are at the centre of the Independent Office for Police Conduct probe.

Despite the allegation of indecent exposure being made against him, PC Couzens continued his work as an armed officer for Scotland Yard’s diplomatic protection command guarding VIPs and politicians.

The Mail understands that the complaint had not reached ‘command level’, so his colleagues are unlikely to have been aware of the allegation. 

Sources said the officer had been behaving erratically and had spent a considerable period of time off sick for an unknown issue.

The IOPC started an investigation last night into whether two Met officers responded appropriately to the report. The watchdog is also assessing a referral from the police force in relation to its actions after Miss Everard went missing.

A spokesman said: ‘The IOPC has started an independent investigation into whether Metropolitan Police Service officers responded appropriately to a report of indecent exposure.

‘They are all connected to the arrest of a serving MPS officer on suspicion of kidnap, murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure.’ 

The allegations were said to have plunged Scotland Yard into turmoil amid concerns that public confidence in the police has been hit.  Senior officers were described as ‘reeling’ yesterday. 

The shocking development came as the heartbroken family of Miss Everard, 33, paid tribute to her last night, describing her as a ‘shining example to us all’.

They have been informed that a body found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday may need to be identified by dental records, which could take days or even weeks. 

Yesterday PC Couzens was taken to hospital following an injury behind bars after his arrest on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and kidnap.

He was found unconscious in a custody cell in Wandsworth, south London, with head wounds that were said to be self-inflicted.

Suspects are supposed to be monitored every 15 minutes under normal custody rules for potentially vulnerable prisoners.

PC Couzens has since been discharged and returned to custody for further questioning.

On Thursday Met Police confirmed a woman, 39, who was on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April. 

Scotland Yard has referred the matter to the police watchdog, one of five referrals.

The IOPC has upheld a separate referral relating to the Met’s handling of an allegation of indecent exposure, which Couzens was also arrested over. 

Met Police confirmed it had referred itself to the IOPC in relation to the injuries suffered by the suspect, as well as the conduct of two officers relating its investigation into alleged indecent exposure.

A statement released by Scotland Yard read: ‘Following the arrest of a police officer, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) made two referrals, one mandatory and one voluntary, to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

‘These were linked to the conduct of the officer arrested on suspicion of kidnap, murder and indecent exposure.

‘The IOPC has determined both these matters should be locally investigated by the MPS.

‘We also made a mandatory referral in relation to the actions of police after Sarah was reported missing. We await the IOPC’s assessment.

‘A further voluntary referral was made for a conduct matter in relation to the police investigation into the separate allegations of indecent exposure. The IOPC have determined this will be subject to an independent IOPC investigation.

‘We have made another mandatory referral to the IOPC after the man arrested was taken to a hospital for treatment to a head injury sustained while in custody in a cell alone. He was being monitored by CCTV and received immediate first aid. We await the IOPC’s assessment.’

The officer, who was part of an elite unit guarding Downing Street, the Palace of Westminster and embassies, is suspected of abducting Miss Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on Wednesday last week.

Police arrested the suspect following a tip-off about a car allegedly spotted on a motorist’s dashcam near to where the missing woman was last seen.

Yesterday a CCTV clip showing a woman passenger in a car was being examined.

On the night of her disappearance PC Couzens had just come off duty after a 2pm to 8pm relief shift at the US Embassy in Nine Elms, south-west London, about three miles from where she was last seen.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said it had sent ‘waves of shock’ through the force.

Yesterday Victim Support revealed its support line has been flooded with calls from concerned women.

The events have prompted an outpouring of shock and anger as women across the country shared their own experiences of feeling unsafe.

Last night police were still questioning PC Couzens after a warrant of further detention was granted at Wimbledon magistrates’ court.

A woman, who was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April.

Searches continued at Hoard’s Wood near Ashford, Kent, a private 500-acre patch thick with trees and brambles. It is 30 miles from PC Couzens’s home address in Deal, where he lives with his Ukraine-born wife Elena.

The heartbroken family of Sarah Everard paid tribute to her last night, describing her as a ‘shining example to us all’.

The parents of the 33-year-old marketing executive told of their devastation after their ‘wonderful daughter’ was allegedly snatched from the street by a stranger as she walked home a week ago on Wednesday.

Now the family face an agonising wait for the formal identification of human remains found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, on Wednesday.

Miss Everard’s father Jeremy, 67, a professor of electronics at the University of York, and her mother Susan, 63, travelled down to London to help police in their search soon after Miss Everard went missing on the night of March 3.

In a statement they said: ‘Our beautiful daughter Sarah was taken from us and we are appealing for any information that will help to solve this terrible crime.

‘Sarah was bright and beautiful – a wonderful daughter and sister. She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour.

‘She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. We are very proud of her and she brought so much joy to our lives.

‘We would like to thank our friends and family for all their support during this awful time and we would especially like to thank Sarah’s friends who are working tirelessly to help.’

Steve Lewis, Miss Everard’s head teacher at Fulford School, York, told The Times she was ‘popular and well-liked’ and a ‘lovely, bright, intelligent girl who shone within the school’.

She went on to achieve a 2:1 degree in geography at Durham University in 2008 and moved to London about 12 years ago to pursue her career in marketing.

She took a six-month break in 2013 to travel to South America, spending a month at the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before travelling to Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires, in Argentina.

She supported the Matthew Elvidge Trust, a mental health charity set up in memory of a student who took his own life in 2009.

Miss Everard had just started a new job and was in a relationship with Josh Lowth, 33, a marketing director.

She had made a 15-minute call to him as she walked home, ringing off shortly before police believe she was abducted in Poynders Road, in Clapham, south London.

The family’s statement last night also included an impassioned plea for information from the public.

It is hoped witnesses will come forward, which may help detectives piece together Miss Everard’s last movements.

Despite learning that the prime suspect in the case is a Metropolitan Police officer, the family expressed their faith in the investigation team.

‘We are so grateful to the police and would like to thank them for all they are doing,’ they said. ‘We are now pleading for additional help from the public. Please come forward and speak to the police if you have any information.

‘No piece of information is too insignificant’.

Police have threatened organisers of a vigil planned in the wake of the suspected killing of Sarah Everard with £10,000 fines for breaking lockdown rules.

The Reclaim These Streets event was set to take place in Clapham at 6pm on Saturday, near where Miss Everard was last seen.

It was intended as a show of defiance against reported police instructions to women in the area to not go out alone.

The organisers wrote on Facebook: ‘It’s wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently.’ Similar vigils were planned in cities including Cardiff and Liverpool.

The group said it had contacted Lambeth council and the Met and received a ‘positive response’. But organisers claimed last night they were told by the Met ‘the vigil would be unlawful and … we could face tens of thousands of pounds in fines and criminal prosecution’. The organisers had advised attendees to wear masks and practise social distancing. They plan to challenge the police’s interpretation of coronavirus legislation in the High Court today.

They launched an online fundraiser last night to raise £30,000 to cover legal costs. It had exceeded the target within one hour.

Under lockdown laws, police can issue fines of £10,000 for someone holding a gathering of more than 30 people.

The Met was contacted for comment.

Two officers in an unmarked Land Rover were said to have been watching Couzens’ house he shares with his Ukrainian wife Elena in Deal, Kent, for two hours before 20 police sprinted in from around the corner to arrest him six days after his alleged victim vanished. 

They have been described by friends as a ‘very doting couple’ with two children who met online around 12 years ago. 

Police had swooped over something they saw on CCTV on a London bus that passed Sarah as she walked towards Brixton, according to the Daily Telegraph, who said he was working in the hours before his arrest.

A car linked to Couzens – thought to be a hire vehicle – was reportedly picked up on a motorist’s dashcam near to the spot where Sarah disappeared last Wednesday. 

One source told MailOnline: ‘If they identified his car from the bus, they will have been able to see him driving all the way home on London and Highways England’s network of cameras.

‘If she was in the car, they will have footage of him with her’. 

Detectives also probe whether the suspect used his warrant card to lure her into his car after leaving work guarding the nearby US Embassy, it has emerged.    

Scotland Yard are also said to be investigating whether Couzens, 48, used the current Covid-19 lockdown rules to stop the missing woman as she walked home to Brixton from her friend’s home in Clapham, south-west London on the evening of March 3. 

Anyone who has seen Sarah or who has information that may assist the investigation should call the Incident Room on 0208 785 8244.

Information can also be provided to detectives using the Major Incident Portal or by calling Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.