Police should never have employed Wayne Couzens, report finds

Official report finds new and worse failures to spot danger of officer who kidnapped and murdered Sarah Everard

Sarah Everard's family have said she was kidnapped and murdered by Wayne Couzens because he was armed with police powers he should never have had, after an official report revealed new and damning failures by police who missed his prolific sexual offending dating back almost 20 years.

The failures laid out in the report by Lady Elish Angiolini are worse than previously thought, and she concludes Couzens should never have been a police officer. She highlighted a series of chances to spot his danger to women and his unsuitability to be an officer that were missed by repeated bungling in three forces.