Wayne Couzens: many missed warning signs before Sarah Everard murder

The danger that Wayne Couzens, now 51, posed to women should have been spotted before he was allowed to join the police, a report has found, and it identified several “red flags” in his past. Here is a timeline of Couzens’ behaviour.

1995 Allegations about Couzens’ offending go back more than 25 years before Everard’s murder. In the mid-90s, when he was in his early 20s, it is alleged he kidnapped a woman in London. The incident was reported at the time but the perpetrator was never caught. The woman contacted police again when she recognised Couzens in news reports about Everard’s murder.

He was found guilty of a motoring offence that year and was the subject of a county court judgment over a debt.

2003 The inquiry said that while Couzens was in the Territorial Army, he behaved in an intimidating manner towards a woman. The victim contacted police after seeing Couzens’ face in the press after his arrest for Everard’s murder.

Related: Police should never have employed Wayne Couzens, report finds

2004 Couzens has been accused of indecently exposing himself to a teenage girl in south London. Again, it was reported to police after Couzens’ picture emerged in media reports. He is also alleged to have shown violent pornography to a group of reservists.

2006 In late 2006 or early 2007, it is alleged that Couzens attempted to rape a woman in London. This was not reported to police until after his arrest for Everard’s murder.

Also in 2006, when successfully applying to be a special constable with Kent police, Couzens let on that he had already been turned down in an attempt to join the police two years earlier. He failed in an attempt to join the Civil Nuclear constabulary in the intervening year.

2007 Couzens’ financial difficulties, which ordinarily would prompt concerns about an applicant’s fitness to serve in the police, continued. Meanwhile, his family learned he had married a woman in secret. Until this point, the inquiry found, he had been known to visit sex workers.

2008-10 In late November 2008 it is alleged that Couzens once again committed indecent exposure in south London. It was reported to police but no statement was taken from the victim. He failed vetting to join Kent police as a regular officer because of his financial difficulties but he was promoted within the special constabulary.

Over the next two years there were three occasions when it is alleged Couzens committed sexual assault and harassment. These were not reported at the time.

2011 Couzens joined the Civil Nuclear constabulary.

2013-14 Couzens was reported missing in the early hours of one morning in 2013 and inquiries established that he had taken a lengthy detour from his expected route home. The inquiry said this was a red flag about his suitability to be a police officer and it suggested he could have been out searching for a potential victim.

While serving with the Civil Nuclear constabulary, he committed two motoring offences.

2015 Police records link Couzens with an allegation of indecent exposure while in a car. It was reported to Kent police and he was identified as the vehicle’s registered keeper, but he was never spoken to by officers.

2016 Couzens was disciplined after unintentionally discharging his Taser.

2018 Couzens transferred to the Metropolitan police.

2019 It is alleged that Couzens raped a woman in London. The offence was reported in March 2020 but no suspect was identified.

The inquiry found that Couzens bought a “variety of items that could be used for covert surveillance”. And he was found to have been part of a WhatsApp group where he and other officers exchanged abusive messages about women.

2020 Couzens was found to have indecently exposed himself to a woman in Kent. At the time, no perpetrator was identified and the case was closed. He made obscene remarks to women online while he was on sick leave and sent unsolicited sexually explicit images to one. This was not reported at the time. Couzens’ financial problems arose once more.

2021 It is thought he indecently exposed himself to five more women in Kent. Two cases were eventually proved and he was identified as a suspect in two more, but they were not further investigated until after Everard’s murder.

Police closed a fifth case on the same day it was opened without identifying a suspect. It was only reopened after Everard’s murder. Couzens also contacted several sex workers.