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Three Met cops charged after ‘sharing grossly offensive WhatsApp messages with Sarah Everard’s killer cop Wayne Couzens’

2022-02-17 00:00:00.0 太阳报-英国新闻原网页

THREE Met Police officers have been charged after sharing grossly offensive WhatsApp messages with Sarah Everard’s killer, the police watchdog has said.

Sarah, 33, was abducted, raped and strangled to death by serving Met cop Wayne Couzens on March 3 last year.

Sarah, 33, was killed by serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens Credit: Reuters 2

Wayne Couzens kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

Couzens was later handed a whole life term.

Now two serving Met officers and one former Met officer have been charged over messages sent during her case - and other messages exchanged in 2019 before her murder.

The three officers are facing charges over allegations they shared racist and misogynistic messages with Couzens, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said.

Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “Following a referral of evidence by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the CPS has authorised charges against two serving Metropolitan Police officers and one former officer.

“All three will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 March for their first hearing.

“Each of the three defendants has been charged with sending grossly offensive messages on a public communications network. The alleged offences took place on a WhatsApp group chat.

“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges to a court to consider.

“Criminal proceedings are active and nothing should be published that could jeopardise the defendants right to a fair trial.”