Sarah Everard: Tributes paid to ‘brilliant and talented’ woman on second anniversary of her murder

Tributes have been paid to the “brilliant and talented” Sarah Everard, two years on from her murder.

The 33-year-old marketing executive was tricked into complying with a false arrest by armed Met officer Wayne Couzens in the evening of March 3, 2021, while walking home to Brixton from a friend’s in Clapham.

On the second anniversary of her death mayor of London Sadiq Khan and several women’s groups have paid tribute to her.

“Today my thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Sarah Everard, and all those impacted by her death,” Mr Khan tweeted.

“Sarah was a brilliant and talented woman who had her whole life ahead of her, and was loved deeply by her family and friends.”

Couzens used his handcuffs and warrant card to snatch her from the streets and went on to strangle her with his police belt in the early hours of March 4.

After a desperate search, police discovered her remains in Ashford, Kent, and Couzens was arrested and convicted of her kidnap, rape and murder.

He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Two years on from her murder, domestic abuse charities and women’s groups have said nothing has changed regarding women’s safety and attitudes in the Met Police.

Former acting Met Commissioner Stephen House was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) this week over over allegations that he described the “bulk” of rape complaints as “regretful sex”.

House denied the claims, saying he finds the term regretful sex “abhorrent”.

Jamie Klingler, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, said that two years on women have “not” been able to reclaim the streets and that “in fact more has been exposed”.

The Camden resident told Sky News: “These attitudes perpetrate the Metropolitan police up and down the country.

“The Watershed moment that the Met Police promised, it’s never materialised by the institutions that are meant to protect us.

“Trust in the police has been decimated.”

Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge, described the comments by the former acting commissioner as “abhorrent” and said they should be “widely condemned”.

“When this is the attitude at a senior level in the police force, it’s no wonder that women feel unable to come forward to report these crimes, or fear they won’t be believed if they do,” she said.

Domestic abuse charity Solace Women’s Aid said that two years on from Everard’s murder “the endemic misogyny and racism of the Met Police is now an accepted fact”.

“The new commissioner, Mark Rowley, has publicly stated that there are currently more than 1,000 Met Police officers being investigated for sexual assault or sexual misconduct,” the charity said in a statement.

“He has warned that we should expect many more upsetting cases to come.

“We have been let down, many of us are angry and revolted at the behaviour of officers that we should be able to trust to keep us safe.

“We worry about what this is doing to women’s sense of safety, their confidence in reporting violence and abuse and ability to seek justice.

“For Black and minoritised women, migrant women, disabled women and LGBT+ survivors, the latest revelations have only compounded existing mistrust.”

The mayor of London said he is “determined to ensure that something like this is never allowed to happen again”.

“I’m supporting the new commissioner in his commitment to identify and rid the Met of those individuals within the force who are not fit to serve the people of our city.

“I’m also holding the commissioner to account to bring about the urgent step-change in culture, systems, standards and performance that’s so desperately needed to rebuild public confidence and trust in the police and help to build a safer London for everyone.”