For days, the search for Sarah Everard dominated the headlines in Great Britain – her murder subsequently enraged the country. Now the verdict was given in a London court.
London – Harsh verdict in an exceptional case: A police officer will have to be behind bars for the rest of his life because of the murder of Londoner Sarah Everard. Judge Adrian Fulford sentenced the 48-year-old to the maximum sentence on Thursday – life imprisonment with no prospect of early release.
The case had upset the country and sparked a new debate on violence against women. “The policeman (…) will die in prison,” reported the PA news agency, and the tabloid “The Sun” shouted after him: “Rot in hell!”
At the end of an emotional process, Judge Fulford said he saw no choice but to impose the maximum sentence. This is mainly due to the profession of the confessing perpetrator: “The abuse of the function of a police officer, as it happened in this case to kidnap, rape and murder a single victim, is, in my opinion, just as serious as murder in order to promote one political, religious, racial or ideological matter, ”said Fulford.
Abused power
A police officer who abuses his power shakes the pillars of society. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “People must be able to take to the streets without fear and with full confidence that the police will protect them.”
Judge Fulford said it was by no means a spontaneous act. Rather, the 48-year-old had planned and prepared a kidnapping and rape weeks beforehand. He should have known that there would be almost no alternative to killing the random victim.
The details of the bloody act sparked shock waves across the UK. Sarah Everard was walking home from a friend in London on the evening of March 3rd. Shortly after the 33-year-old had finished a phone call with her boyfriend, the police officer stopped her with his ID card and arrested her for violating corona rules.
He drove the handcuffed Everard dozens of kilometers into the southeastern county of Kent. There he raped the young woman and strangled her with his police belt. He later bought gasoline, set the body on fire, and dumped Everard’s remains in a pool.
No apparent remorse
The perpetrator never showed any serious remorse, never gave information about his motive or the exact course of events, said Judge Fulford. Rather, days later the man even drove with his family into the forest where he had disposed of the corpse and let his two children play nearby.
The judge rejected the advice from defense attorney Jim Sturman – the defendant had confessed to the crime and was ashamed, he had no previous convictions and was known as a good family man and colleague, which justified an earlier release from prison. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
For days the search for Sarah Everard had kept the country in suspense. In many cities women demonstrated at vigils for more protection. Quite a few reported their experiences of sexual harassment on the Internet. Not much has changed since then. Just recently, the murder of another London woman, 28-year-old Sabina Nessa, sparked renewed anger and horror.
Deep grief of the family
Everard’s parents and sister described their grief in court. “No punishment you receive will ever match the pain and torture you inflicted on us,” Father Jeremy Everard said to the defendant. “We loved being part of Sarah’s world and expected her to live a full and happy life. Now we only come close to her during daily visits to her grave. “
Sister Katie called the perpetrator a “monster”, and mother Susan said: “He treated my daughter as if she were nothing and disposed of her as if she were garbage.” The family emphasized in a statement that the verdict did not bring Sarah back – but with the policeman in custody the world is safer.
The suffering of family and friends remains. The London police, who immediately suspended the perpetrator after his confession, are still dealing with the consequences. There are investigations against several officials because they are said to have not consistently followed earlier reports against their colleague for causing public nuisance.
“There are no words that can adequately express the horror of Sarah’s murder,” wrote Premier Johnson. And he protested that he would do everything in his power to prevent crimes like this from happening in the future. dpa
