03 March 2024 , 09:18
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Three years ago today, Sarah Everard was stopped by a police officer who forced her into a car, and she never came home.
Now, with the publication of a damning report which declared Sarah's murderer Wayne Couzens should have never been a police officer, activist Jamie Klingler sadly admits “I’m actually less likely to report an assault today than I was then”. Ms Klingler, a co-founder of Reclaim These Streets – the group which organised the Clapham Common vigil in the wake of Sarah’s death – said the Met Police had done “nothing” to restore women’s confidence in the force.
Met officer Couzens raped and murdered Sarah, 33, after trawling the streets of London. Thursday’s damning inquiry report led by Lady Elish Angiolini, which was commissioned by ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel, revealed Couzens had previously been accused of a serious sexual assault on a child before his policing career began. It’s believed the murderer, now serving a whole life order for Sarah’s murder, also had other victims.
The report also highlighted Couzens’ behaviour in the days before, with three known incidents where he indecently exposed himself, including twice at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Swanley, Kent. Kent Police has also apologised for not investigating a report of Couzens exposing himself back in 2015.
Sarah Everard, 33, was murdered by Couzens despite multiple warning signs of his concerning behaviour (PA)
Activist Jamie Klingler said the watershed moment on violence against women and girls 'still hasn't happened' (Sean De Sparengo)The Mirror spoke to Ms Klingler, 45, who said, if anything, the situation on women’s security and faith in the justice system had actually “regressed” since Sarah’s murder, despite the crime reigniting conversations on the subject. “I think the one positive change that’s happened in the last three years is the public discussions which just used to be held by women at 3am in the nightclub bathrooms have moved to the dining room,” she said.
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“We’re now having those conversations with our fathers, brothers and sons. But the police and the government haven’t really done anything substantial. The watershed moment didn’t happen.”
“We are three years on, and we’ve only just seen a report recommending that a man accused of indecent exposure shouldn’t be serving in the police. I’m done with inquiries, because it should not take three years to tell us that police officers should not be waving their penises at people.”
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She added: “It shouldn’t be easier to become a police officer than it is to adopt a dog from Battersea Dogs Home. It’s not that [Couzens] slipped through the net – the net is designed to protect themselves. What does that tell us about how much our safety is valued?”
Ms Klingler was one of four women who took High Court action in March 2022 over the Met’s response to people attending the Clapham Common vigil. The group, also including Jessica Leigh, Anna Birley and Henna Shah, argued that decisions made by the force in advance of the planned vigil amounted to a breach of their human rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
Their claim was upheld by two senior judges, who ruled that the Met's decisions in the run up to the event were "not in accordance with the law". Despite the victory, two years on, Ms Klingler admitted the latest report left her feeling “more in despair than ever”.
Activist Jamie Klingler was one of four women from Reclaim These Streets who took High Court action over the Met's handling of the vigil (Callum Baker)“Just cut the bull*** and fix it,” she said. “We need to prioritise domestic violence, police need to improve their vetting processes and change their culture to be more transparent.” In response to this week's Angiolini report, Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said: “There is nothing we can say to the family of Sarah Everard and all those who loved her that will convey how very sorry we are.
Couzens is supected of many more crimes (SWNS)
Pictured by a court artist during his trial, the former cop is now serving life in prison (PA)“Wayne Couzens’ crimes were horrific. The fact that he abused his position as a Metropolitan Police officer to carry them out represents the most appalling betrayal of trust. It damages the relationship between the public and the police and exposes long-standing fundamental flaws in the way we decide who is fit to be a police officer and the way we pursue those who corrupt our integrity once they get in.
“The report published today is an urgent call to action for all of us in policing. We must go further and faster, to earn back the trust of all those whose confidence in policing has been shaken by events of recent years.
“Regardless of our significant progress over the past year, the scale of the change that is needed inevitably means it will take time and it is not yet complete. The majority of my Met colleagues share my determination to reform by both confronting the risk posed by predatory men in policing, and also, improving our protection of women and children across London.”
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