The body of Sarah Everard was found on Wednesday near Ashford, Kent. The A.C. of Scotland Yard confirmed that the body had been forensically identified as being the 33-year old. She was last seen walking alone through the main road of Clapham, at 9:30pm. He added that officers were working on the case to search the woodland, Clapham, and the home of PC Wayne Couzens in Deal, Kent, with more specialists remaining in contact with her relatives.
On Tuesday, the Met Officer was arrested on suspicion of Everard’s kidnap, and was later arrested again on suspicion of her murder. On Friday, the 48 year old was officially charged, and his full murder and kidnapping trial is set to begin on Saturday. The day before, he had been taken to hospital for treatment due to head injuries he received while alone in his cell, before returning to custody.
The Met is facing an investigation into handling of a separate allegation of Couzen’s indecent exposure in a fast food restaurant, just three days before his disappearance. Finally, a vigil for Ms Everard was cancelled after a High Court judge refused the legal challenge. Organisers claimed that police performed a “U-turn” about the vigil, citing COVID restrictions as preventing it from going ahead.
On Thursday evening, Ms Everard's family said she was a "kind, thoughtful, caring and dependable" person.
Ms Everard’s body was discovered after a YouGov poll of over 1000 women, revealed that 97% of women aged 18 to 24 and over 70% of women of all ages have experienced sexual harassment in public spaces, such as wolf-whistling or sexual contact. The research also showed a lack of faith in authorities, with just 4% of women saying they'd reported incidents of harassment, and 45% stating they didn't believe reporting would change anything. This sparked public outcry, yet many young women pointed out they were unsurprised.
Written by Noah Mitchell
Artwork by Delicia
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