04 March 2024 , 00:01
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The detective who led the investigation into Sarah Everard's murder has told of the chilling moment she was informed that chief suspect Wayne Couzens was a serving police officer.
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin made the revelation as she spoke on camera for the first time in a documentary on the marketing executive's murder. She had sent a team to Couzens' house in Kent to question him and, while officers were en route, a detective ran into Goodwin's office. He shut the door, and told her "you need to hear this". A researcher on the phone then revealed that Couzens was a serving Met officer.
Goodwin said: "I knew that I had to tell my boss and I can just remember the shock of having to just sit on the floor of the office and say to her, 'You're not going to believe this, that he's a police officer'. And then the same questions went through her head as went through my head, 'Are you sure?'."
Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice. will air on BBC One tomorrow at 9pm (PA)Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice has been two and a half years in the making and will air on tomorrow evening (Tues) on BBC One, days after the third anniversary of her death.
In the documentary, Goodwin revealed the police discovered Couzens was suspected of an indecent exposure offence days earlier in Kent, before they found out he was a serving Metropolitan Police officer. Goodwin said they discovered this after Miss Everard and Couzens were spotted on CCTV footage next to a car, which led to his identification.
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She said: "At that time, Wayne Couzens was a name that meant nothing to any of us. So immediately we start researching the name, also the phone number and the address that had been given when he'd hired the car.
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The detective added that when it was discovered he was suspected of indecent exposure, it "suddenly changed everything, because whilst I might have hoped that Sarah had got into the car with someone she knew, suddenly it was clear to me that she'd got into the car of an alleged sex offender".
Senior Investigating Officer Katherine Goodwin (PA)Former Met detective Nick Harvey was the first to question Couzens and recalled the moment he discovered the suspect was a serving officer while driving to his house He told the documentary: "The gravity of the whole situation then became incredibly clear. You know, the moment I told the team, it just went silent."
Mr Harvey knocked on Couzens' door and said that when he showed his warrant card "he just went grey".
"Just... all the colour just ran out of his face," he said.
Couzens, 50, was jailed for life last year for Sarah’s rape and murder.
Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice airs tomorrow on BBC One at 9pm.