Met Police officer Wayne Couzens is charged with the murder and kidnap of Sarah Everard, 33, after he was taken to hospital for SECOND time to be treated for another head injury while in custody

Met Police officer Wayne Couzens is charged with the murder and kidnap of Sarah Everard, 33, after he was taken to hospital for SECOND time to be treated for another head injury while in

custodyWayne Couzens has been charged with the murder and kidnap of missing marketing executive Sarah Everard Metropolitan Police officer will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on

Saturday, Met confirmedMiss Everard vanished on March 3 after leaving a friend's house in Clapham to walk home towards Brixton By FAITH RIDLER FOR MAILONLINE

Published: 21:17 BST, 12 March 2021 | Updated: 08:11 BST, 13 March 2021

An armed Metropolitan Police officer was last night charged with the murder and kidnap of Sarah Everard.

Wayne Couzens, 48, a firearms officer from Scotland Yard's elite Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was charged after more than three days of questioning by murder detectives. 

He was arrested on Tuesday, almost a week after the 33-year-old marketing executive disappeared as she walked home to Brixton from a friend's house in Clapham, south London on March 3. 

Couzens is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today.

The latest development in the case comes as it emerged the father-of-two was rushed to St George's Hospital with fresh head injuries on Friday.

He was treated for the second injury he sustained while in custody in 48 hours before being discharged and returned to a police station, the Metropolitan Police said.   

Scotland Yard added: 'The suspect was taken to a hospital for treatment to a head injury sustained while in custody in a cell on Friday, March 12. He was being monitored by officers and

received immediate first aid.' 

In a statement last night, Rosemary Ainslie, head of special crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, added: 'Following a referral of evidence by the Metropolitan Police related to the death

of Sarah Everard, the CPS has authorised the police to charge Wayne Couzens with murder and kidnapping.'

Last night, the Met Police revealed Couzens joined the force two years ago in September 2018 when he worked for a response team covering the Bromley area, before moving to the Parliamentary

and Diplomatic Protection Command in February last year.

Speaking outside Scotland Yard, Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave added: 'I would like at this stage to pay tribute to Sarah's family for their fortitude and forbearance through what can

only have been the most intensely difficult few days. Our thoughts remain with them as this matter progresses.' 

Marketing executive Sarah was last seen on a doorbell camera at the junction of Poynders Road and Cavendish Road at 9.30pm on March 3 after crossing through Clapham Common. 

On her way home, Miss Everard had spoken to her boyfriend Josh Lowth, 33, on the telephone and arranged to meet the next day. She was reported missing after friends and family were unable to

reach her. 

Charged: Wayne Couzens, 48, has been charged with the kidnap and murder of Ms Everard

Metropolitan police have put up a forensics tent and sealed off a garage which backs onto the tunnels now being searched by specialist officers

Police officers are carrying out fingertip searches of an area of grass land behind the suspect's house in Deal on Friday

Metropolitan Police officers removed their hats in respect alongside funeral directors with the Private Ambulance carrying the remains found in Hoad's Wood near Ashford in Kent left the area

Forensic officers removed a Ducati Scrambler motorbike from the home of Sarah Everard suspect Wayne Couzens

Earlier on Friday, Scotland Yard confirmed that human remains found in an area of woodland in Ashford, Kent, two days earlier had been identified as Miss Everard.  

The heartbroken family of Sarah yesterday paid tribute to the marketing executive, describing her as a 'shining example to us all'. 

Speaking outside Scotland Yard, Mr Ephgrave said Miss Everard's family had been told this 'most distressing news'.

He said: 'As you know, on Wednesday evening detectives investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard discovered a body secreted in woodland in Kent.

'The body has now been recovered and formal identification procedure has now been undertaken. I can now confirm that it is the body of Sarah.'  

He said his 'thoughts and prayers, and those of the entire organisation' remain with Miss Everard's family 'at this awful time'.

He added: 'Specialist officers remain in constant contact with Sarah's family, and will continue to support them throughout the investigation and beyond.

'That investigation continues at a pace and we have hundreds of officers working round the clock to establish the full circumstances of Sarah's disappearance, and her murder.'  

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The Couzens' former garage is on the White Cliffs above the Port of Dover, which is full of tunnels dating back centuries

The military tunnels in Dover and the Fort on Western Heights of Dover, England, also being looked at by police

Officers from the Metropolitan Police laid flowers at the gates of the disused golf course and sports centre close to the woodland where remains feared to be Sarah's have been found

An aerial view of the Couzens' garden complete with a pool apparently covered over by investigators

In a statement released after the charge was confirmed, the Metropolitan Police shared further employment information about Couzens for 'clarity' in the face of these 'exceptional events'. 

Couzens joined the force in September 2018, and was first posted to South Area where he joined a response team covering the Bromley area. 

He then moved to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command last February, where his primary role was on uniformed patrol duties of Embassies.  

Detectives investigating Couzens were combing a network of military tunnels in the White Cliffs of Dover which run underneath a former garage.

'May they know the suffering God alongside them in this unimaginable pain.

'Testimony after testimony from women over recent days have shown us something we have known and ignored for far too long: the profound impact of the sin of male violence, intimidation,

harassment, sexism and abuse carried out against women.

'It is these sins - and the culture that perpetuates and condones them - that need our urgent repentance, our fervent prayer, and our resolute action as men.'

London Mayor Sadiq Khan added: 'It is devastating news for Sarah Everard's loved ones that the police have identified her body.

'My deepest sympathies - and those of all Londoners - are with them.'

It comes as a High Court judge yesterday refused to intervene in a legal battle launched by organisers of a vigil in memory of Miss Everard. 

They previously claimed the Metropolitan Police had 'reversed their position' in allowing the gathering to go ahead, despite assurances it would be socially distanced.

Reclaim These Streets is planning to host the event in south London on Saturday near to where the 33-year-old went missing.

The group brought urgent legal action at the High Court in a bid for a declaration that any ban on outdoor gatherings under coronavirus regulations is 'subject to the right to protest'. 

However, Mr Justice Holgate declined to grant the request - in relation to a gathering planned for Saturday - and left it open for talks between the group and the Metropolitan Police to

continue.   

Scotland Yard later said in a statement that large gatherings could 'risk undoing all the hard work to reduce the (Covid) infection rate' and urged people to stay at home rather than attend

a vigil.

Despite this, a number of women have said they will attend the London vigil for Sarah regardless of the outcome of discussions with police. 

As the hearing got underway in London earlier on Friday, Mr Ephgrave said: 'I know that the public feel hurt and angry about what has happened, and those are sentiments that I share

personally, and I know my colleagues here at Scotland Yard and across the Met share as well.

'I also recognise the wider concerns that have been raised, quite rightly, about the safety of women in public spaces in London and also elsewhere in the country.

'I want to say now that this organisation, and the men and women in it, remain committed to protecting Londoners wherever they are in this city.

'And that commitment is undiminished by these events and if anything that commitment is strengthened by these tragic circumstances.'

Miss Everard's father Jeremy, 67, a professor of electronics at the University of York, and her mother Susan, 63, travelled down to London to help police in their search soon after Miss

Everard went missing last Wednesday. 

In a statement released on Thursday, they said: 'Our beautiful daughter Sarah was taken from us and we are appealing for any information that will help to solve this terrible crime.

'Sarah was bright and beautiful – a wonderful daughter and sister. She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour.

'She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. We are very proud of her and she brought so much joy to our lives.

'We would like to thank our friends and family for all their support during this awful time and we would especially like to thank Sarah's friends who are working tirelessly to help.'

Steve Lewis, Miss Everard's head teacher at Fulford School, York, told The Times she was 'popular and well-liked' and a 'lovely, bright, intelligent girl who shone within the school'.

She went on to achieve a 2:1 degree in geography at Durham University in 2008 and moved to London about 12 years ago to pursue her career in marketing.

She took a six-month break in 2013 to travel to South America, spending a month at the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before travelling to Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires, in Argentina.

She supported the Matthew Elvidge Trust, a mental health charity set up in memory of a student who took his own life in 2009.

Miss Everard had just started a new job and was in a relationship with Mr Lowth, a marketing director.

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