Red flags were 'repeatedly ignored' by police vetting, according to the inquiry. It also said it has seen evidence Couzens allegedly committed a 'very serious sexual assault against a child' before his policing career even began.
Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer and there needs to be a 'radical overhaul' of police recruitment to stop 'another Couzens operating in plain sight', an inquiry into the rape and murder of Sarah Everard has found. The independent report - the first of three that will be published by Lady Elish Angiolini - delivered a damning verdict on how three separate police forces 'could and should' have stopped Couzens.
On at least two occasions, he allegedly shared sexually graphic images with young women. But the most glaring missed opportunities to disrupt Couzens' offending and end his police career were the failures to properly investigate allegations of indecent assault. Kent Police made 'grave error', report finds Couzens was the subject of such allegations on four separate occasions before his arrest.