Wayne Couzens, the murderer of Sarah Everard, had his plea hearing at the Old Bailey today postponed due to the barrister’s strike.
The former Metropolitan Police officer, 49, is charged with two counts of indecent exposure prior to the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Ms. Everard.
In June 2015, he allegedly drove through Dover, Kent, without pants.
And he is accused of exposing himself to a female rider in November 2020.
From HMP Frankland, he appeared in the Old Bailey and spoke simply to confirm his name and state that he understood the proceedings.
However, as his attorney was on strike, no pleas could be heard.
Today, Wayne Couzens was charged with two additional counts of indecent exposure.
During the about 15-minute-long hearing, he displayed little emotion.
The prosecutor, Jocelyn Ledward, successfully requested that the defendant’s sentence be prolonged until November 10th.
Richard Egar, the prosecutor and attorney, spoke at the hearing almost exclusively to address administrative matters.
Separately, the former armed officer of the Metropolitan Police’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command pled not guilty to four counts of indecent exposure.
Elizabeth Cook drew a sketch of Wayne Couzens, the murderer of Sarah Everard, who appeared via video link on April 13 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London accused with two further flashing offenses.
These charges are to alleged acts that occurred in Swanley, Kent, between January 30 and February 6, and on February 14 and February 27 of last year.
According to the initial allegations, he allegedly “exposed his genitalia with the goal that someone would view them and be alarmed or distressed.”
The charges have not yet been officially combined.
Ms. Ledward stated at an earlier hearing, ‘A member of the public called the police and provided the registration number of the defendant’s VW Golf, stating that he had just seen someone driving through the center of Dover with his penis visible.
‘He was so stunned that he called the police.
The defendant was not approached, and the complainant was subsequently difficult to locate. This could be the reason why it did not advance.
In November of 2020, a woman was cycling on a rural road a few miles from the Kent coast.
Wayne Couzens emerged from the forest buck naked and masturbating.
“At the time, the suspect could not be located. Not until photographs of Mr. Couzens were circulated did she recognize the defendant.’
On November 1, he will return to the same court for a case management session where he may submit a plea.
A trial date has yet to be determined.
In March of last year, while serving as a Metropolitan Police officer, Couzens abducted Ms. Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive, as she walked home in south London.
Deal, Kent native Couzens is currently serving a life sentence at HMP Frankland in Durham for her murder and will never be released.
Earlier this year, his appeal against this punishment was unsuccessful.
Couzens’ attorneys had claimed that he deserved “decades in prison,” but that a life sentence was disproportionate.
Lord Burnett stated, in a court-read summary, that the sentencing judge had the authority to inflict a life sentence due to the circumstances surrounding Couzens’ case.
Lord Burnett stated that a minimum term of 30 years would be the starting point for sentencing in the Couzens case, but he continued: ‘Having regard to its aggravating features, we have no doubt that its gravity is so exceptionally high that a life sentence rather than a minimum term sentence should be imposed.’
Couzens abducted, raped, and murdered 33-year-old Sarah Everard while he was a Metropolitan Police officer.
Ms. Everard was murdered when Couzens took her from a street in Clapham, south London, and placed her in a rental car.
He even used his actual police handcuffs and a warrant card to make her believe she was arrested for violating lockdown regulations.
The murder provoked widespread indignation and a series of exposes concerning ongoing problems within the Metropolitan Police and other UK forces.
Several cops faced criminal prosecution when texts from a WhatsApp group containing Couzens were made public.
Since then, Couzens has been charged with a total of six flashing offenses.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, stated at the time he was charged with the latest two offenses: ‘The CPS has authorized two more counts of exposure against Wayne Couzens, after a referral of evidence by the Metropolitan Police.
“The alleged crimes occurred in June 2015 and November 2020,” On September 2, 2022, Wayne Couzens will appear before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
“The mission of the Public Prosecution Service is not to determine whether a person is guilty of a criminal offense, but rather to make fair, independent, and objective determinations regarding whether it is suitable to present charges to a court for consideration.”
The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all parties that criminal proceedings are pending against Wayne Couzens and that he is entitled to a fair trial.
After disputing the claims in May at the Old Bailey, Couzens chose to be tried by a jury for the preceding four offences.