Jump directly to the content

THE cop who led the Sarah Everard murder probe has spoken of the moment she found out killer Wayne Couzens was a Met officer.

Katherine Goodwin says one of her team ran into her office to reveal the suspect was one of their own.

Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin reveals the haunting moment she found out Sarah Everard's killer was a Met officer
3
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin reveals the haunting moment she found out Sarah Everard's killer was a Met officerCredit: PA
Monster Wayne Couzens was identified from CCTV images of him next to a car as he snatched Sarah off the street in Clapham
3
Monster Wayne Couzens was identified from CCTV images of him next to a car as he snatched Sarah off the street in Clapham

The Detective Chief Inspector said a police computer identified he was suspected of being a flasher — before triggering an alert that he was a gun cop.

She spoke on camera for a new BBC documentary on 33-year-old Sarah’s murder by perverted off-duty officer Couzens, 51, in March 2021.

He was identified from CCTV images of him next to a car as he snatched Sarah off the street in Clapham, South London.

Ms Goodwin said: “At that time, Wayne Couzens was a name that meant nothing to any of us.”

READ MORE ON SARAH EVERARD

She said the discovery he was accused of indecent exposure “changed everything”.

She added: “Suddenly, it was clear Sarah had got into the car of an alleged sex offender.”

She then found out his gun cop job with the Met and told her boss. Ms Goodwin said: “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’.”

Couzens got a whole-life tariff for Sarah’s rape and murder.

  • Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice is on BBC One on Tuesday at 9pm.
Katherine Goodwin spoke on camera for a new BBC documentary on 33-year-old Sarah’s murder
3
Katherine Goodwin spoke on camera for a new BBC documentary on 33-year-old Sarah’s murderCredit: PA
Exclusive interview with Lady Elish Angiolini who led the damning Wayne ­Couzens report
Topics