GUILTY UK - Sarah Everard, 33, London, Clapham Common area, 3 Mar 2021 *Life sentence* #16

[LeopardLeotard]

Glad to see you back.
I was thinking about you yesterday.
Quite understandable how all this made you feel so exposed.
It's nearly over for us - But never will be for those close to SE.

Thanks Ted
Indeed

 

[Parmalade]

Plus the purchase of the carpet film minutes after the hiring of the Crossland.

ETA: unless this was to cover the rear of the car for the rape. The other items used in the disposal (petrol, builders bags) were purchased afterwards. So there is a chance that he decided later to cover up the rape by so brutally murdering her and then attempting to dispose of the evidence.

RIP Sarah, I hope a previously passed love one came to take you out of those final moments and that you were no longer ‘here’ for the brutality.

 

[misscandle]

It's easy with hindsight but at the time he'd have been far more justified in taking his employer to an employment tribunal or opening a HR case than they would in investigating him because other employees were calling him a rapist without a case.

Yes I suppose you might be right but perhaps that’s a problem in itself. As a woman, I personally demand an independent inquiry into sexism within the MET. People who display such a level of disregard to females to then be nicknamed ‘the rapist’ are clearly sexist at least and very dangerous at worst and should be investigated.

 

[sriraaacha]

I wonder what would've happened if Sarah had resisted the arrest. Like at that time of covid restrictions, I do remember very clearly that visiting friends wasn't "allowed" (maybe unless in your "bubble"?), but imagine she had genuinely just been out to the supermarket or been going for a walk (daily exercise) or to/back from work, would her reaction have still been the same? Would she still have gotten into the car?...

 

[Sarahlou]

Thanks to those who have kept this thread updated. Let's hope the sentence fits the crime!

 

[Silverlink]

Wayne Couzens is sitting with his head bowed as the judge begins sentencing for the “devastating, tragic and wholly brutal” murder of Sarah Everard

https://twitter.com/BeccaBarry/status/1443524143723524096

 

[Silverlink]

11:33am
'I must focus on the factors that are properly relevant'
The judge said: "The sentence that I pass on the defendant must be just", in accordance with law.

He added: "To discharge my function that that i focus solely on the factors that re properly relevant to determining the correct sentence and nothing else."

11:31am
'More will be written'
Lord Justice Fulford has talked about the "wholly brutal" killing of Sarah Everard.

He said: "Many details as to her demise along with abundant observation as to what is symbolises has been reported by commentators.

"And no doubt following sentence I am about to pass more will be written."

 

[Lubilu]

<modsnip - not an approved source>

Judge says Sarah was "blameless" victim of a "grotesquely executed" crime. "She was simply walking home...after visiting a friend during the pandemic." #SarahEverard

 

[Moll]

11:33am
'I must focus on the factors that are properly relevant'
The judge said: "The sentence that I pass on the defendant must be just", in accordance with law.

He added: "To discharge my function that that i focus solely on the factors that re properly relevant to determining the correct sentence and nothing else."

11:31am
'More will be written'
Lord Justice Fulford has talked about the "wholly brutal" killing of Sarah Everard.

He said: "Many details as to her demise along with abundant observation as to what is symbolises has been reported by commentators.

"And no doubt following sentence I am about to pass more will be written."

11:30am
We are back underway
Couzens is in the dock.

Lord Justice Fulford is starting his sentencing remarks.

Telegraph

 

[Cherwell]

I wonder what would've happened if Sarah had resisted the arrest. Like at that time of covid restrictions, I do remember very clearly that visiting friends wasn't "allowed" (maybe unless in your "bubble"?), but imagine she had genuinely just been out to the supermarket or been going for a walk (daily exercise) or to/back from work, would her reaction have still been the same? Would she still have gotten into the car?...

At that time it was allowed to meet one other person from outside your household, but not indoors.

 

[Barbieshell]

Now we wait.
I have been off here for a while, i have dipped in and out periodically and have caught up with threads
This has really upset me, from the chaos and bewilderment at the beginning when it became apparent of what was unfolding before my eyes, to being quite terrified and a little vulnerable at my locality to this beast. I became slightly paranoid, i truly think there were press on here at some point and as i had shared quite a lot i became a little spooked, and as the investigation turned away from his home and family i felt i had little left to offer re updates etc, however this matters not now.
I have to say the details that we now have are shocking. Poor, poor Sarah, this man completely destroyed her. If he doesn't get a life sentence then i just dont know how they can justify that. Her families impact statements made me cry, how utterly soul crushing they were to read, unimaginably painful to them.

Was thinking about you on these threads hoping that you'd return. I can't imagine how hard it was living so close, I hope the street has settled and you're feeling more secure knowing this will probably never see outside of prison walls ever again xx

 

[Silverlink]

11:35am
'She was simply walking home'


The judge said that Sarah Everard must be remembered during the sentencing.

He said the 33-year-old marketing executive was a "wholly blameless victim of a grotesquely executed" crime.

Lord Justice Fulford pointed out "she was simply walking home".

 

[Moll]

Deleted, duplication - I'll leave it to Silverlink.

 

[tedtink]

At that time it was allowed to meet one other person from outside your household, but not indoors.

If you were part of a 'bubble' then you could meet indoors.

 

[Silverlink]

11:37am
Couzens' fake arrest was Covid-related, judge says


Lord Justice Fulford said that Couzens "used his position of a police officer to coerce her on a wholly false pretence to a car".

He said that this was done on the false pretence "that she had breached the restrictions on movement being enforced during that stage of the pandemic."

 

[Silverlink]

11:37am
Couzens' guilty plea taken into account


The judge has made a note of Couzens' early guilty pleas.

 

[Cherwell]

If you were part of a 'bubble' then you could meet indoors.

Yes, I was excluding "bubble" arrangements.

 

[Silverlink]

'Sarah Everard must not be forgotten'
Lord Justice Fulford is speaking to the court as he prepares to sentence Wayne Couzens.

He says he has taken into consideration the impact of Sarah Everard's death on her family and loved ones.

“A great deal has been said about the devastating tragic, and wholly brutal death of Sarah Everard," Lord Justice Fulford said.

“Two things must not be forgotten. First, the victim. Who she was and what happened to her in early March.

"Her personal circumstances and her untimely death coupled inevitably with the impact on her family and those who were close to her are a critical consideration.

"And second, notwithstanding that vital factor, the sentence that I pass on the defendant must be justice in the all important sense....and I must focus on the factors that are properly relevant and nothing else."

Live updates as Wayne Couzens sentenced at Old Bailey for Sarah Everard's murder

 

[Silverlink]

11:39am
Couzens spent a month driving to London to plan murder, judge says
Lord Justice Fulford said that Couzens had "spent a month driving to London working out how best to commit his crime".

The judge said he hired a car on Feb 28 which he drove to London to commit his crime and "found a place in Dover where there were no houses...and less chance of witnesses".

 

[mrjitty]

I can’t believe that this wasn’t a premeditated murder. If he intended to rape her and release her he wouldn’t have driven so far. He made no attempts to conceal his identity from her, which he would have done if he knew she would be alive to identity him.

Does anyone know if the burden of proof is the same for sentencing as it is for a jury verdict?

Burden of proof in criminal trials is with always with the prosecution, but at this stage, the prosecution and defence are making their submissions based on the evidence as presented

So its more about what natural inferences the Judge draws from the evidence already established.

IMO it's open to the Judge to find that murder was premeditated before the abduction.