Senior officers don’t know Wayne Couzens’ nickname “rapist” UK News

Senior Metropolitan Police officers were “unaware” that Sarah Everard’s killer was nicknamed “the rapist” by former colleagues, the Met deputy commissioner said.

Wayne Couzens was sentenced to life on Thursday for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Ms Everard while serving as a Met officer.

Serious questions were posed to the Met about Mr Couzens’ crimes as the judge concluded the killer “had planned well in advance, in all of its unspeakably sinister details, what was about to happen” .

Speaking to the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee on Thursday, Met Assistant Commissioner Sir Stephen House said Mr Couzens “had abused the London public’s trust in him as that policeman “.

Read more: Sarah Everard’s killer will never get out of jail, judge the judge

Disturbing evidence regarding Mr Couzens began to emerge after his arrest earlier this year, including that he was dubbed ‘the rapist’ by colleagues because he made women uncomfortable.

Mr House said he was “unaware” of the nickname given to Mr Couzens by his colleagues in the civilian nuclear gendarmerie, where he worked before the Met.

He added: “I hadn’t heard it until today, to be honest.”

The Met has come under scrutiny in the wake of Ms Everard’s murder.

Couzens has been accused of indecently exposing himself in public just weeks before Ms Everard’s murder.

Mr House told Assembly members that an investigation into the reported incident was underway when Ms Everard was killed.

He said: “We had a report that a man exposed himself indecently days before the murder. He was not identified at that time as a policeman. He was not on duty and he exposed himself in a commercial setting and this was reported to the Metropolitan Police Department. ”

The deputy commissioner confirmed that the Independent Office for Police Conduct has investigated the Met’s handling of the reported incident and cannot comment further until that investigation is completed.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s verification process for new officers will be reviewed as part of an investigation by Her Majesty’s Police Inspectorate.