‘She added beauty to the world’: Sarah Everard’s mother remembers her five years on
The mother of Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by an off-duty Met Police officer five years ago, has paid tribute to her daughter with a post recalling her travels, dancing and sense of humour.
Susan Everard said in her article that Ms Everard “contributed to the beauty of the world”. British VogueA publication in which the 33-year-old artist was photographed as part of a street fashion series at V Festival in 2010.
Ms Everard wrote: “The year the photo was taken was 2010 and although it is bittersweet, I love seeing her happy and beautiful with her whole life ahead of her. It was a golden time as she had recently graduated and returned home from her travels to Southeast Asia and was already making plans for future adventures.”
The marketing executive loves to travel, he said, spending time in South America, South Africa and Nepal.
“He was interested in the world around him and made the most of life. There was a depth to him, he lived his life with kindness and integrity,” Ms Everard wrote. “He cared about others and was concerned about us during the pandemic. He had a wide circle of friends who were very dear to him, and we are meeting with them now to celebrate him.”
“I miss Sarah’s kindness: she was thoughtful, reliable and deeply principled.”
Ms Everard went missing after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham at around 9pm on March 3, 2021, and her body was tragically discovered a week later. After Wayne Couzens’ arrest, it was revealed in court that he kidnapped her under the guise of arresting her for violating Covid quarantine rules before raping and murdering her.
Following the horrific crime, it was revealed that Couzens had gone through several rounds of scrutiny despite three cases of indecent exposure not being fully investigated.
The case brought to the fore police vetting processes and the handling of officers accused of sexual harassment.
In December, an investigation launched following Everard’s death called for forces to drastically tighten police investigations after finding recommendations on recruitment had not been followed by police forces.
The Met Police commissioner said “no organization of 40,000 people can be perfect” – but insisted work had been done to remove problem employees from the force since Ms Everard’s death.
Sir Mark Rowley said around 1,500 people have been sacked from the police force since 2022, many for inappropriate behavior towards women.
speaking to the BBCSir Mark said: “They [women] I can definitely trust [us]. We are an organization that is doing everything we can to double down on our integrity and be as strong as we can, from the front door of the organization, where scrutiny is much more difficult than before, to every step we take with the allegations inside.
“Of course, no organization of 40-odd thousand people can be perfect, but you can be committed to maintaining the integrity of the organization as much as possible, and that’s certainly what we’re doing right now.”
Last yearIndependent It found that at least 59 police officers have been convicted of sexual offenses in England and Wales since 2022. This included 22 officers from the Met Police, all men, none of whom were still on duty.
A review in January found that around 5,073 officers and staff at the Met were not properly vetted between 2013 and 2023. The Met estimated that under normal practice around 1,200 recruits might have been rejected for review.
However, in the statement IndependentMandatory departures have tripled from 150 in 2020 to around 550 in 2024, the Met said. It was stated that rejection rates through review more than doubled to 11 percent.
But women’s charities say more needs to be done. Farah Nazeer, CEO of the Women’s Aid Society. he told the BBC He said there needed to be a change in police officers’ attitudes towards women.
Sir Mark said: “We haven’t gotten to the point where every woman is saying ‘I have complete and unquestioning trust in the Metropolitan Police. Of course.'” This is a terrible incident. [Everard’s murder].
“An on-duty police officer kidnapped, raped and murdered someone. Of course, this will be remembered for a long time and all I want to do is say: I can see that we are making progress and people are noticing.”
Are you impressed by this story or would you like to comment on the Met Police’s handling of misconduct? Contact alexander.ross@independence.co.uk
