Sarah Everard murder: Emma B says Wayne Couzens exposed himself to her

3 years ago 60
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Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The radio presenter said she was struck by how "feeble" the Met's response was at the time

Radio presenter Emma Wilson has said Sarah Everard's murderer Wayne Couzens flashed her and that Met Police officers laughed when she reported it.

The Magic FM DJ - who is also known as Emma B - said he exposed himself to her when she walked past an alleyway in Greenwich, south-east London, in 2008.

She told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour she recognised him when she saw his photo in news reports.

The Met Police and police watchdog are investigating.

Ms Wilson told the programme she was "so very sure" it was him and that it "adds to the clamour of chances there were to stop this man".

Couzens - a Met Police officer when he kidnapped, raped and murdered Ms Everard - was given a whole-life term last month.

The police watchdog the IOPC is looking into the Met's handling of three other alleged indecent exposure incidents involving Couzens, including one said to have taken place in south London three days before he murdered Ms Everard.

Image source, Everard family

Image caption, Sarah Everard was murdered after being tricked into Couzens' car as she walked from Clapham to Brixton

Ms Wilson says she knows it was Couzens who exposed himself to her - at the time he was a volunteer officer with Kent Police - as he has a "face that doesn't go anywhere, it stays with you".

She explained how she ran into a nearby shop to alert police who then visited her to take a statement.

"They were asking me what I could see... he was playing with himself and there were specifics about his state of arousal that they thought were quite amusing. It was really humiliating," Ms Wilson said.

"I remember clearly saying to them, 'I really hope this is all he needs to do' and I said that at the time because I was so struck by how feeble their response was."

The presenter said the incident was "aggressive, it was purposeful, it was calculated" and that "it wasn't this comic character that we have of this local peeping Tom or the local flasher in the flasher mac".

"There's a really big part of me that hopes it wasn't him because if it was this is horrific that it could have gone on for so very, very long."

Image source, Met Police

Image caption, Wayne Couzens admitted murder, kidnap and rape

The Met Police said at the time that a search of the area was conducted but the suspect could not be found. CCTV inquiries were unsuccessful and the matter was passed on to the local safer neighbourhoods team for intelligence.

"In terms of it being Wayne Couzens to the best of our knowledge we are not aware of any reports prior to his March arrest when he was named as a suspect. If we receive any allegation we will access and investigate accordingly," the force said.

'Rebuild trust'

Following a recent review into how he became a police officer, the Met Police said it would re-evaluate its approach to indecent exposure.

Earlier on Tuesday, Met Police Deputy Commissioner Bas Javid acknowledged there was a "crisis" of confidence in policing in the wake of Ms Everard's murder.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "We want women and girls particularly to feel safe in communities.

"There's a lot of work to be done to rebuild that trust and give people the confidence to come forward."

He said as well as the independent review into the force's standards and culture, the Met Police was taking other steps to be "proactive".

Those measures include undertaking an examination of all ongoing sexual and domestic abuse allegations against officers and staff, and significantly boosting the number of officers who investigate police misconduct.

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