Around 100 people gathered to mark five years since the murder of Sarah Everard who was raped and killed at the hands of a serving Met Police officer.
The crowd arrived at Clapham Common bandstand to commemorate Ms Everard’s life as well as remember all the women and girls whose lives have been taken through violence.
Five years ago today, Ms Everard was abducted, raped and murdered at the age of 33 by then-serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.
She had walked past the Common in the final hours of her life on the two and a half mile walk back from a friend’s house in Battersea.
Couzens had hired a car for his premeditated attack and spotted Ms Everard alone on her walk home. He stopped and mounted the curb, posing as an undercover police officer, flashing his Met Police warrant card to sell the trick.
From there, he drove her 80 miles into rural Kent, where he raped and murdered her, then burned her body and dumped her remains into a pond in the woods.
Tuesday night’s vigil was organised by local news page Best of Clapham, who were fundraising for London-based charity Solace Women’s Aid which supports women and children affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Klara Fine, 29, who works at local news page Best of Clapham, said: ‘We’re here this evening to remember her because she deserves to be remembered.
Floral tributes were laid at the vigil held on the fifth anniversary of Sarah Everard’s abduction, rape and murder
Around one hundred people came to Clapham Common’s bandstand to commemorate Ms Everard and other women and girls who lost their lives in violence
‘We remember her not as a headline, not as a case, not as a moment in the news cycle, but as Sarah, a daughter, a friend, a woman with plans, laughter and the future ahead of her, cruelly taken away.’
Ms Everard’s mother, Susan Everard, also this morning paid heartbreaking tribute to her ‘beautiful’ daughter. She said she had ‘her whole life ahead of her’ and ‘added to the beauty of the world’.
She wrote in her Vogue Magazine tribute: ‘I miss the goodness of Sarah: she was thoughtful and dependable and highly principled.’
Adding: ‘Most of all, she was a loving and caring young woman; her many friendships are a testament to her lovely nature. She added to the beauty of the world.’
Wayne Couzens was handed a whole life tariff after pleading guilty to Ms Everard’s rape and murder in September 2021, meaning he will never be free again.
He is serving at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, nicknamed ‘Monster Mansion’ due to the large number of murderers, rapists and terrorists who are imprisoned there, including Ian Huntley and the London nail bomber David Copeland.
In a statement issued by the force, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘Sarah Everard should still be here.
‘Five years have passed since her senseless and devastating murder.
‘What happened to her was a profound betrayal: of her, of her family and loved ones, and of every person who places their trust in policing.’
A week after disappearing, Ms Everard’s body was found in woodland in Kent. She had been raped, strangled and burned
Wayne Couzens will never be released from prison after he was handed a whole life tariff in September 2021 following his guilty plea to the abduction, rape and murder of Ms Everard
He said the fact that she was killed by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, was ‘as devastating today as it was in 2021’.
Adding: ‘It was an unthinkable abuse of power and a total violation of the values that the Met, and policing, stands for.
‘On the day I heard what he had done, I felt devastated for the immense harm his actions caused to the trust that underpins our relationship with the communities we serve.
‘What he did shook policing to its core. It made decent, dedicated officers and staff across the country furious that one of our own could commit such a monstrous crime.
‘We will always be deeply sorry: for the unimaginable harm done to Sarah, for the trauma endured by her family – who have shown extraordinary dignity in the face of unbearable grief – and for the profound damage inflicted on the trust Londoners should be able to place in their police service.’
The horrendous case sparked an inquiry which concluded in February 2024 that the Met and two other police forces could and should have stopped Couzens being a police officer.
Sir Mark has pushed on efforts to clean up the Met Police, sacking 1,500 officers and staff in the last three years.
