McDonald’s worker flashed by Wayne Couzens slams cops after they were handed CCTV of him 3 DAYS before Sarah’s murder
A MCDONALD'S worker who was flashed by Wayne Couzens has slammed cops for "not acting quickly enough" after they were handed CCTV of him three days before the murder of Sarah Everard.
The woman said depraved Couzens, 48, turned up in his car at a drive-thru on the A20 near Swanley in Kent on two occasions in February with his trousers down.
Police were told about the allegations on February 28 - just days before the evil cop used his warrant card and handcuffs to abduct, rape, and kill 33-year-old Sarah.
The McDonald's worker, who did not want to be named, told the : "The police took our statements and took away CCTV.
"If they had taken this more seriously, they could easily have figured out that he was a policeman who had committed these crimes.
"The police had three days to stop him but didn't. It could have stopped him from doing a lot worse."
The woman said the first incident was on February 7 when the monster bought a coffee and a Big Mac with fries at the drive-thru.
When she looked down from the serving hatch, she saw he wasn't wearing any trousers.
The worker said she told her managers immediately, but she was left so disturbed that she did not take down any details of his car and was only able to provide a brief description of him as he was wearing a mask.
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On the second occasion on February 27, Couzens allegedly exposed himself to another female McDonald's worker who was aged around 18.
She managed to note down the registration number of the car including its make and model before management reportedly informed the police a short time later.
After being told of the two indecent exposure incidents, cops arrived at the Swanley branch on February 28, where they carried out interviews and obtained CCTV footage, the report says.
The woman said: "The officers came to the McDonald's sat us down and we gave them all the details about what happened. They went away with a lot of evidence and CCTV.
"If you ask me, they had good information to go on. But I don't think any of us expected the case would escalate so quickly and that Sarah would be murdered just a few days later."
'DISTURBED'
She added: "The whole thing left me quite disturbed. He casually pulled up to the serving hatch having ordered his food and I could clearly see that he was naked from below the waist.
"I'm glad I took a stand and alerted the authorities because it was the right thing do. But I never imagined that he would go on to murder a woman, it's tragic."
According to the Mail Online, the indecent exposure crimes had been "allocated for investigation" by the time of Sarah's abduction, but the case was not concluded.
The Met Police is being investigated by the Independent Office of Police Conduct over how it handled the case, and the force said officers' approach to indecent exposure reports was being "re-evaluated".
The force are also investigating whether Couzens committed even more crimes after he was caged for life on Thursday for Sarah's brutal murder.
Evil Couzens snatched Sarah off the street as she walked home from a friend's home in Clapham Common, South West London on March 3.
Shocking CCTV captured the moment he lured the 33-year-old into his car as he arrested her after claiming she had broken Covid rules.
The cop then drove Sarah for 50 miles from London to Kent where he raped and strangled her with his police belt.
JAILED FOR LIFE
Sarah's tormented parents Susan and Jeremy were forced to sit through the grim details of her death as they bravely stood up to face her killer.
Sentencing Couzens to life in prison, the judge said: "The misuse of a police officer's role such as occurred in this case in order to kidnap, rape and murder a lone victim is of equal seriousness as a murder for the purpose of advancing a political, religious ideological cause."
He praised Sarah's family, whose statements in court revealed the human impact of Couzen's "warped, selfish and brutal offending which was both sexual and homicidal".
The judge said: "Sarah Everard was a wholly blameless victim of a grotesquely executed series of circumstances that culminated in her death and the disposal of her body. She was simply walking home.”
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He told how Couzens spent a month travelling from his home in Deal, Kent, to London while hatching a gruesome plan to "hunt a lone female to kidnap and rape".
Lord Justice Fulford added: "Sarah Everard’s state of mind, and what she had to endure would have been as bleak and agonising as it is possible to imagine."
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a - available every day from 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.