Sarah Everard’s murderer launches appeal against whole life sentence

Wayne Couzens is set to die in jail but wants his sentence reduced

Wayne Couzens, the former London Metropolitan Police officer who killed Sarah Everard back in March, is now appealing the life sentence he was dealt on September 30. According to the Mirror, a court official revealed on Tuesday (October 26): "We have been notified that an appeal has been lodged by Mr Couzens." If permission is granted, the case will be heard by the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. Labour MP Jess Phillips rightly condemned Couzens' audacious attempts to appeal the sentence, commenting: "I'm shocked by what appears as a continued inability of Couzens to understand the severity of his actions or the pain that such an appeal will cause to the Everard family". Around the time of the murder, Phillips gave a powerful speech in the Commons where she spent four minutes reading out the names of female victims of male violence in the past year. Speaking yesterday, she went on to say that "[Couzens'] crimes have had had deep repercussions for our country and whilst nothing can undo that harm his sentence reflects that." The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to falsely arresting, kidnapping, raping and murdering the 33-year-old after she walked home from a friend's house through Clapham Common towards her home in Brixton on March 3. At present, Couzens' heinous, unforgivable crimes have made him one of just over 60 inmates currently serving life sentences in the UK today.

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