Wayne Couzens’ attempt to have his sentence reduced at the Court of Appeal was unsuccessful today, so he will still likely die in prison.
Prior to raping and killing Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, the depraved killer pretended to have arrested her using Covid powers as she walked home from a friend’s house in March 2021.
Before kidnapping Ms. Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, the 48-year-old had been planning the crime for at least a month.
He used his warrant card and handcuffs to carry out the crime.
Senior judges heard objections to or appeals from five murderers serving life sentences in prison, including Couzens and double murderer Ian Stewart.
Along with triple murderer Jordan Monaghan, Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, had their sentences reevaluated.
Today, Couzens’ sentence was not reduced by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett or the other four judges.
The 33-year-old Sarah Everard was raped and killed by the former officer last year; it was the first time a sentence of life in prison had been handed down for a single adult murder that wasn’t committed as part of a terror attack.
Couzens’ attorneys argued in an appeal against the whole-life sentence that although he deserved “decades in jail,” a whole-life sentence was excessive.
However, according to a summary read out in court by Lord Burnett, the Couzens case’s facts allowed the sentencing judge to impose a whole life order.
It was the first time a sentence had been given for a single adult murder that wasn’t part of a terrorist attack.
Even though nothing could bring Ms. Everard back, the knowledge that Couzens “will be imprisoned forever” brought some solace, her bereaved family said after the sentence.
One of the more than 60 criminals serving life sentences is Couzens.
They are saved for the most heinous crimes, like serial killings and murders committed for political reasons.
Couzens joined notorious killers like Michael Adebolajo, who killed British soldier Lee Rigby, Dale Cregan, who killed a police officer, and Mark Bridger, who killed 5-year-old April Jones.
Murderers of Moors, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, also received life sentences. Levi Bellfield, a serial killer, is exceptional in that he has two.