Pc Wayne Couzens, 48, pleads guilty to kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard
8 June 2021, 09:56 | Updated: 9 June 2021, 05:41
Serving police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard.
The court also heard he accepts responsibility for her killing but no plea was entered, pending medical reports ahead of another hearing on 9 July.
Ms Everard went missing in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.
The 33-year-old marketing executive's body was found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, a week after her disappearance.
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Hundred arrive at Clapham Common to pay respects to Sarah Everard
Couzens, a serving Metropolitan Police officer from Deal in Kent, was arrested in March.
The judge had set a plea hearing date for 9 July and a provisional trial for 25 October.
However, appearing via video link at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, the Pc pleaded guilty to kidnapping the 33-year-old "unlawfully and by force or fraud" on 3 March, and to rape between 2 March and 10 March.
He appeared via camera from Belmarsh jail wearing khaki trousers and a grey sweatshirt.
Four members of Ms Everard's family were present as he answered the two charges with: "Yes, sir."
The 33-year-old victim was walking back to her home in Brixton on the night she vanished.
Her boyfriend reported that she had gone missing on 4 March and her body was found on 10 March.
