Sarah Everard murder: A timeline of key events
29 September 2021, 20:53 | Updated: 30 September 2021, 12:28
Wayne Couzens is being sentenced for the murder of Sarah Everard, after pleading guilty to her murder, kidnap and rape.
The former police officer used Covid laws to handcuff and falsely arrest her before raping her, strangling her and burning her body, a court heard on Wednesday.
Read more: Sarah Everard's mother tells Wayne Couzens he is 'very worst of humanity'
Read more: Met officer used Covid laws to handcuff and 'arrest' Sarah Everard before murdering her
2002
Wayne Couzens joins the Kent Special Constabulary.
2015
Kent Police allegedly fail to investigate an indecent exposure incident linked to the officer.
September 2018
Couzens transfers to the Metropolitan Police from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) where he had worked since 2011.
2019
Couzens and his wife buy a small area of woodland off Fridd Lane in Ashford, Kent.
February 2019
The PC joins a response team covering the Bromley area of south London, having initially served in a Safer Neighbourhood Team.
February 2020
He moves to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command to patrol diplomatic premises, mainly embassies.
February 2021
The 48-year-old is linked to two allegations of indecent exposure in London, which it is claimed Scotland Yard failed to investigate.
February 28
Couzens books a white Vauxhall Astra from a car hire firm in Dover, Kent, using his personal details and bank card.
He also purchases a roll of self-adhesive film advertised as a carpet protector on Amazon.
March 2
7pm
Couzens starts a 12-hour shift at his base in West Brompton, west London.
March 3
On the day of her disappearance, Sarah Everard visits a friend in the Clapham Junction, using her bank card to buy a bottle of wine in Sainsbury's in Brixton Hill, south London, on her way.
4.45pm
Couzens collects the hire car.
9pm
Ms Everard leaves to walk home, some 2.5 miles away.
9.13pm
She calls her boyfriend for a little over 14 minutes.
9.15pm
Ms Everard is captured alone on CCTV at the junction of Bowood Road and the South Circular.
9.28pm
The next sighting is on Cavendish Road and she is still alone.
9.32pm
Ms Everard is caught on the camera of a marked police car.
9.35pm
A bus camera captures two figures on Poynders Road standing beside a white Vauxhall Astra parked on the pavement with hazard lights flashing.
9.38pm
Another bus camera captures the same vehicle with the two front car doors open.
11.38pm
Couzens transfers Ms Everard to his own car in Dover and drives towards a secluded rural area when she is raped and murdered.
Couzens questioned over Sarah Everard
March 4
2.31am
Couzens' Seat is picked up on ANPR in Dover. He stops at a service station to buy drinks. By this time, Ms Everard is dead.
3.21am
Couzens' car passes a CCTV camera near Hoads Wood, where Ms Everard's body is dumped. He visits the site twice, leaving just before dawn.
8.30am
Couzens returns the hire car used in the abduction.
8.10pm
Ms Everard is reported missing by her boyfriend, Josh Lowth.
March 5
The case is escalated and the Specialist Crime Unit becomes involved.
Couzens, who is due to be off until March 8, reports to work that he is suffering with stress.
He buys petrol which he uses to burn Ms Everard's body and possessions inside a fridge at Hoads Wood.
He also buys two green rubble bags for £9.94 at B&Q in Dover which he uses to transfer the remains to a nearby pond.
March 6
Couzens emails his supervisor that he no longer wants to carry a firearm.
He orders a tarpaulin and a bungee cargo net on Amazon which are shipped to him the next day.
March 7
Couzens takes his wife and two children on a family trip to the woods where only days before he had burned Ms Everard's body.
March 8
The officer reports in sick on the day he is due to return to work.
March 9
7.11pm
Couzens' phone is wiped of all data.
7.50pm
Couzens is arrested at his home in Deal, Kent.
In a brief interview, he tells a false story about being threatened by an Eastern European gang.
March 10
At around 4.45pm, a body is discovered in the pond by specialist police dogs, some 100 metres from land owned by Couzens.
March 11
Couzens answers "no comment" in formal interviews.
March 12
8.45pm
Couzens is charged.
July 9
Couzens pleads guilty to murder when he appears at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh high security jail.
September 29
Couzens faces a possible whole life order when he is sentenced.
