Wayne Couzens sexually assaulted a child, attempted to kidnap a woman at knife point and was reported to police eight times for exposing himself in the years before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, a damning inquiry has found.

The former Metropolitan Police officer had a long history of sexual offending dating back to 1995 but was never arrested or prosecuted and was able to pass police vetting and become an armed officer with both the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) and the Met.

A long awaited report by Dame Elish Angiolini into Couzens, published on Thursday, said there was a “lamentable and repeated failure” to deal with allegations reported to police before Miss Everard’s murder in March 2021.

She said there were “major red flags and missed opportunities to halt Wayne Couzens’ career and bring him to justice”.

In her 347-page report, Dame Elish revealed how Couzens’ first interactions with police dated back to 1995 when he allegedly tried to kidnap a woman at knifepoint in north London.

The incident was reported to police the same day but the perpetrator was never caught.

The woman came forward to police after seeing photographs of Couzens following his arrest for the murder of Miss Everard.

The report also reveals how when he was in his early 20s, in the mid-1990s, Couzens was suspected of committing a “very serious sexual assault of a child barely in her teens”.

The sexual assault provided an “important link in the chain of events” leading up to the abduction, rape and murder of Miss Everard, the report said.

He was also accused of possessing indecent images of children, and in 2004 exposed himself towards a teenage girl in south London by driving past her while masturbating.

The offence was not reported at the time but the woman later came forward when she recognised Couzens in the media.

Rape allegations and indecent exposures

At some point between late 2006 and early 2007 Couzens is suspected of raping a woman at a singles night at a bar in east London. The victim again came forward after the murder of Miss Everard.

There was another allegation of rape in October 2019 which took place under a bridge in London.

In the summer of 2019, Couzens also sexually assaulted a man in a bar in Kent.

The complainant was in drag and wearing a blond wig when Couzens grabbed him inappropriately.

When the victim remonstrated with him, Couzens said he was a police officer and invited him outside to perform a sex act.

The man came forward to police following Couzens’ arrest for the kidnap, rape and murder of Miss Everard.

There were also a string of allegations of indecent exposures, some of which were reported to police but not fully investigated.

In November 2008 Couzens exposed himself to a woman in south London and while the offence was reported at the time no suspect was identified.

In 2015, while working for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Couzens again exposed himself but despite the victims providing police with his car registration, he was never arrested or charged.

The inquiry concluded that the failure to investigate this offence fully was a “red flag and a missed opportunity to disrupt or even prevent further offending by Couzens”.

‘Inadequate investigations’

Following the murder of Miss Everard, Couzens pleaded guilty to three further indecent exposures including two offences committed at a branch of McDonald’s in Swanley, Kent, just days earlier.

Dame Elish said the investigations into these offences had been of “poor quality and inadequate” with the officers displaying an “apathy and disinterest”.

She said in future all cases of indecent exposure that are reported “must be thoroughly and comprehensively investigated”.

She went on: “Furthermore victims need to be encouraged to report and believe they have no reason for shame or embarrassment. These emotions should be left to the perpetrators to experience.”

The report also identified a string of other potential red flags which should have been spotted by police in the years before the murder of Miss Everard.

In 2013 when he was working as a firearms officer with the CNC he was reported missing for several hours.

The report said: “Couzens could have been driving around looking for a victim, in the same way as he did almost eight years later on the evening he abducted Sarah Everard and on other dates leading up to his crime.”

The report concluded that his unexplained disappearance should have been considered a warning sign when he was being vetted to join the Metropolitan Police.

In addition there were vetting failures when Couzens applied to join both the CNC and the Met.

He managed to mask his desperate financial state and the fact he was so in debt that he had entered an Individual Voluntary Arrangement in order to avoid bankruptcy, which would have prevented him joining the police.

‘Nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight’

Presenting her findings, Dame Elish said: “The evidence seen by the inquiry has shown that failures in recruitment and vetting meant Couzens was able to continue a policing career which should have been denied to him.

“Failures investigations into allegations of indecent exposure meant opportunities to disrupt Couzens’ offending and bring his policing career to a halt were missed.

“The fact remains three separate police forces allowed him the privilege of being a police officer when they could and should have stopped him.”

Dame Elish has made 16 recommendations to bring about necessary changes in policing, saying “without significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight”.

Responding to the inquiry report, Miss Everard’s parents, Sue and Jeremy and siblings, Katie and James Everard, said in a statement: “It is obvious Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. Whilst holding a position of trust in reality he was a serial sex offender.

“Warning signs were overlooked throughout his career and opportunities to confront him were missed.

“We believe Sarah died because he was a police officer - she would never have got into a stranger’s car.”

The family also called for all the recommendations to be made forthwith, adding: “We cannot get Sarah back, but positive changes give hope for the future and will be of benefit to others.”