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Jun 13, 2023

Former Met PC ‘missed chance’ to investigate Wayne Couzens

Former PC accused of failing to properly investigate two instances of flashing before murder of Sarah Everard A Metropolitan police officer allegedly “did not bother” to properly investigate Wayne

Former PC accused of failing to properly investigate two instances of flashing before murder of Sarah Everard

A Metropolitan police officer allegedly “did not bother” to properly investigate Wayne Couzens over two incidents of flashing hours before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

Former PC Samantha Lee is accused of conducting an “extremely poor” investigation after Couzens exposed himself to female staff at a drive-through McDonald’s in Kent on 14 and 27 February 2021, a police disciplinary hearing was told.

Lee reportedly failed to secure the relevant CCTV footage when she attended the restaurant on 3 March, hours before Couzens abducted Everard, 33, in Clapham, south-west London.

It is alleged that Lee’s behaviour suggests “she was more intent in getting away quickly than in performing her duties properly”, the hearing on Monday heard.

Lee, who was based in the South Area Command Unit, is also said to have lied and made “a bogus allegation” when questioned about her actions, claiming she believed that the CCTV at the restaurant deleted automatically.

She denies gross misconduct and breaching the force’s standards. While under investigation for the alleged failings, she reportedly quit the force and set up an OnlyFans account called Officer Naughty.

Couzens is serving a whole-life term at HMP Frankland for the kidnap, rape and murder of Everard. In March, he was sentenced to 19 months in prison after admitting three counts of indecent exposure. The first offence related to an incident in November 2020 in which Couzens performed a sex act and exposed himself to a female cyclist on a country lane in Kent while on duty.

A manager at a McDonald’s in Kent said female staff members were “horrified” after the two drive-through incidents in February 2021. “On both occasions the customer was sitting in his car with his trousers fully down and his penis out on display,” he said in a statement.

The manager made a 999 call to police on 28 February, providing the last four digits of Couzens’ Mastercard number and his number plate. He also correctly identified the car as a black Seat Exeo.

Opening the case on behalf of the Met police on Monday, Paul Ozin KC told the hearing that after the manager reported the incidents, the matter was triaged and recorded as “less urgent” than other matters the force had to deal with.

He said a computer check was done after the report, which confirmed that the black Seat Exeo had been registered to Couzens since January 2018, and gave his home address. “There is no standard check that takes place to see whether a suspect in criminal police cases are police officers,” he added.

Lee attended the restaurant three days later, on the afternoon of 3 March. It was her last appointment of the day. “We suggest that the work carried out was a rushed job,” Ozin said.

He said the manager claims to have explained to Lee that while the drive-through CCTV deletes automatically, other CCTV footage showed Couzens’ car. He claimed that he showed her the other CCTV.

The manager also showed her receipts that recorded the last four digits of Couzens’ card on both occasions, as well as witness statements taken from two members of staff.

Ozin told the hearing that Lee’s case was that she spoke to the manager when she attended the restaurant, but he did not show her any CCTV footage of the incident. He said she accepted that she did indeed take possession of receipts and witness statements.

In a report made after attending the restaurant, Lee recommended that Couzens be arrested and questioned. Ozin said Lee claimed that she believed the report would be allocated to a different team to follow up on.

However, Ozin said she did not put the witness statements and the receipts in a sealed evidence bag, instead keeping them in a pocket in her body armour.

He added: “One of the central issues of this case is whether there has been some horrible misunderstanding.”

He said Lee’s behaviour “suggests that she was more intent in getting away quickly than in performing her duties properly … It is supportive of the unpalatable conclusion that PC Lee just did not bother to get the CCTV, even though she knew it was important, instead relying on others to do that instead of her. And that she later lied to others when she knew that the stakes had escalated astronomically.”

He said when “one looks at the landscape across the board, simply not bothering in relation to the CCTV is entirely plausible in the case of PC Lee”.

He added: “The general standard of her investigation was extremely poor, suggesting she treated the allegation as a low-grade allegation that need not be dealt with by her personally and could be dealt with by others.

“She had a great incentive to not be candid about her failings. She made things up and seized upon the other things [the manager] had said to make a bogus allegation.”

The charge against Lee alleges she “failed to undertake the correct investigative inquiries into an allegation of indecent exposure and subsequently provided a misleading account of her actions when questioned about them”.

She is said to have breached the force’s standards on duties and responsibilities as well as honesty and integrity. If she is found to have committed gross misconduct, she could be banned from serving in the force again.

The misconduct hearing at Palestra House in Southwark, south London, is expected to last seven days.