Officer ‘missed chance to investigate Wayne Couzens’ before Sarah Everard murder

Former PC Samantha Lee alleged to have failed to make ‘correct investigative inquiries’ over two incidents

Couzens was sentenced in March to 19 months in prison for indecent exposure. He was already serving life for the murder of Sarah Everard (PA)

A former Metropolitan Police officer allegedly missed an opportunity to properly investigate Wayne Couzens over two incidents of flashing, just hours before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

Former police constable Samantha Lee is said to have failed to make “the correct investigative inquiries” over two incidents in which Couzens exposed himself to female members of staff at a restaurant in Swanley, Kent, on 14 and 27 February, a police disciplinary hearing was told.

The then PC Lee attended the restaurant on 3 March and interviewed the branch manager, hours before Everard was kidnapped by Couzens in Clapham, southwest London.

Ms Lee is also said to have lied about her actions when questioned, claiming she believed that the CCTV at the restaurant was deleted automatically, the hearing heard on Monday.

According to a statement given by Sam Taylor, the manager of the McDonald’s drive-through in Swanley, in both of the reported incidents, Couzens was seen by female members of staff to have his trousers down and his penis visible.

Mr Taylor’s statement read: “On both occasions the customer was sitting in his car with his trousers fully down and his penis out on display.”

Opening the case on behalf of the Met Police on Monday, Paul Ozin KC told the hearing that after Mr Taylor reported the incidents to police on 28 February, the matter was triaged and recorded as “less urgent” than other matters the force had to deal with.

Mr Ozin said that a computer check was done after Mr Taylor made the call, which confirmed that the black Seat Exeo involved in the incidents had been registered to Couzens since January 2018.

He added: “There is no standard check that takes place to see whether [suspects] in criminal police cases are police officers.”

Ms Lee attended the restaurant 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,” Mr Ozin said.

Mr Ozin said that Mr Taylor claimed to have explained to Ms Lee that, while the drive-through CCTV was deleted automatically, other CCTV footage showed Couzens’s car.

Mr Ozin also said that Mr Taylor claimed to have shown Ms Lee the other CCTV, as well as receipts that recorded the last four digits of Couzens’s card on both occasions, together with witness statements taken from two members of staff.

Mr Ozin told the hearing that Ms Lee’s case was that she had spoken to Mr Taylor when she attended the McDonald’s, but that he had not shown her any CCTV footage of the incident.

“PC Lee said that he showed her the CCTV system and how it worked, but did not show her any footage or anything about the incident,” he said. He added that Ms Lee now accepts that she indeed took possession of receipts and witness statements from Mr Taylor.

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

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

Mr Ozin said: “One of the central issues of this case is whether there has been some horrible misunderstanding.” He said that Ms Lee’s behaviour “suggests that she was more intent in getting away quickly than in performing her duties properly”.

He added: “It is supportive of the unpalatable conclusion that 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.”

In March this year, Couzens was sentenced to 19 months in prison after admitting three counts of indecent exposure. He was already serving life behind bars for kidnapping Everard as she walked home through Clapham, south London, on 3 March 2021 and then murdering her.

The third indecent exposure incident relates to when Couzens exposed himself to a female cyclist on a country lane in Kent in November 2020.

Ms Lee is said to have breached the Met’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.

She denies both allegations.

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