Police officer who killed Wayne Couzens, who was raped and killed by Sarah Everard, was denied liberty and must be put in prison, senior judges have decided.
A former Metropolitan Police officer, 49 received a life sentence in prison for abducting and killing 33-year old Ms Everard while she was walking home on her own through south London in March.
He filed appeals to the court. appeal in which he claimed he should be acknowledged for his guilt and given an all-life sentence and a sentence of minimum offering him the chance to achieve release prior to his 90 birthday. birthday.
However, Court of Appeal judges, headed by the Lord Chief Justice Burnett of Maldon denied Couzens appeal in a decision handed down on Friday.
Judges ruled that Couzens’s trial had an “unique and defining feature” that warranted a life-long phrase: “He had used his knowledge and status as a police office to perpetrate his appalling crimes against Ms Everard”.
The court also emphasized “extensive and extreme” aggravating elements, which included “significant and cold-blooded planning and pre-meditation; the abduction of Ms Everard; the most serious sexual conduct; the mental and physical suffering inflicted on Ms Everard before her death; and the concealment and attempts to destroy Ms Everard’s body”.
“We agree with the judge that having determined there should be a whole life order, given the misuse of Couzens’ role as a police officer and the serious aggravating features of the offending the guilty pleas did not affect the outcome”, they said.
Couzens case was analyzed at a special hearing with other notorious killers like Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes who both killed Arthur, who was six years old. Labinjo-Hughes.
Attorney General Suella Braverman requested Tustin and her conviction for murder and sentenced to an entire life sentence. The judge refused and instead gave her a life sentence that included a minimum sentence of 29 years.
The case of Hughes’s case, the defendant had been in prison for 21 years for manslaughter. The court was considering an expansion, deciding that the sentence should be extended to 24 years in prison.
Ian Stewart challenged his entire life sentence for the murder of his first wife, who was married for six years prior to his decision to kill his fiancée and children’s writer Helen Bailey
Stewart was first found guilty of the murder of Ms Bailey, as part of a plot to take the PS4 million fortune. detectives re-investigated Diane’s death in 2010, which Stewart claimed that it was due to an epileptic episode.
The judge ruled that his case wasn’t extremely rare enough to warrant an entire life sentence and reduced it to a lifetime sentence with the requirement of 35 years.
Construction employee Jordan Monaghan, accountable for the murders his two children as well as his newly-wed in Blackburn was also in danger of a lifetime sentence following an appeal to the Attorney General.
The court increased his maximum period to 48 years, but he did not decide to impose the whole-life cost.
Couzens shocking crime stunned the nationwhen he abducted marketing executive Ms Everard in a fake arrest with Covid restrictions powers on March 3 of last year.
The PC, who was a part of the Metropolitan’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command and raped Mrs. Everard prior to killing her. Then, they her body was dumped in the woodland in Kent.
In announcing Couzens appeal to the bar in court, the barrister Jim Sturman QC said a life sentence that has an initial term between 35 and 38 years is a reasonable punishment. He also noted that the defendant pleaded guilty instead of using his police expertise and expertise to build an “wicked” defence.
He claimed Couzens initially admitted to police an “ridiculous” story about eastern European Gangsters that forced Couzens to kidnap Ms. Everard and then he quickly removed the lie.
“You can imagine the additional horror that would have been inflicted on Sarah Everard’s loved ones, sitting through a trial, hoping upon hoping that he didn’t pull the wool over the jury’s eyes” He added.
Mr. Sturman said he compared Couzens to serial murderer Levi Bellfield, who sadistically placed the families of his victims through further punishment in court as well as murderer of MP Ali Harbi Ali, who freely admitted to having no regrets or regrets.
Mr. Sturman said that sentencing judge Lord Justice Fulford had wrongly assessed Couzens as being guilty of “no remorse”.
“Not only did he plead guilty before much of the evidence had been served, he indicated an admission of guilt before the pathology evidence was served” He stated.
“He didn’t play the system the way many police officers have over the years.”
The the prosecutor Tom Little QC told the judge that the killing of Ms. Everard was an “fundamental attack on our democratic way of life” and warranted the punishment of a “wholly exceptional” sentence.
“A police officer is in a uniquely powerful position, able to carry out an arrest alone on one of London’s busiest arterial roads during a period of lockdown” the officer said.
The Court of Appeal upheld Couzens entire life sentence and he won’t have the opportunity to request parole.
