Sarah Everard’s family: Police missed chances to stop Wayne Couzens – live updates

The policing of the vigil for Sarah Everard was awful. It took what was already an incredibly painful set of circumstances and made it worse. I’ve spoken to police officers that recognise that and I will continue to speak about leadership.

It’s about driving attitudinal change, it’s about a willingness to accept criticism from people who have felt victimised for far too long... to respond to those incredibly legitimate concerns at a point of incredible sadness and tragedy amplified what was already a tragic circumstance.

I will everything I can to make sure situations like that are never, never repeated.

There absolutely must not be no sacrifice of quality, of vetting, to try and hit the recruitment targets that we have made clear we expect the Metropolitan Police to hit.

We want the Metropolitan Police to be a well-recruited force.

The overwhelming number of Metropolitan Police officers are brave individuals who put their lives on the line frequently to protect all of us... those individuals want to see these bad apples routed out and indeed never coming in to the police service in the first place.

We have got to make sure that standards don’t slip in terms of recruitment, they should be enforced.

To say that we are doing everything possible in flagging intelligence is just not true.

Currently if you are found to have raped your wife or raped one of your children or abused your children, in a family court in this country, found by a British court, no police force in the country would be entitled to have that information when they were doing the vetting.

Will he commit today that that will all be completely and utterly available and that is somebody found to have raped or have child abused in a British court, that when they want to become a police officer or a social worker, that that information will be available.

[Ms Phillips] raises an incredibly important point about making sure that where there have been offences that they are taken into consideration with regard to the vetting and that is part of the set of reforms that we will be looking at driving through.

Thankfully, because of the first part of her review that was published, a complete re-vet of every police officer and police staff member across England and Wales has taken place over the last year.

“It’s been a significant piece of work. But to reassure the public and to anybody listening to this report, there has been a significant review of the processes.

This report tells us that the environment did nothing to discourage [Wayne Couzens’] misogynistic view of women. We know that not every flasher becomes a rapist, but we also know that every rapist starts somewhere.

I respectfully say to [James Cleverly] of course there have been good changes with regard to the criminal justice and longer sentences for the most violent and serious offences but that is too late, we have to intervene in the offending journey.

My committee heard last week from deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy, a man who has taken on a difficult job overturning those stones in the Metropolitan Police... those stones that turn up 1,600 instances of at least one allegation of a sexual offence or domestic violence – 1,600.

Can [Mr Cleverly] give us assurance today that he will give more power to the elbow of Stuart Cundy, so that we get rid of these individuals from our police service?

Women need to see that when these crimes are reported that they’re investigated and perpetrators are brought to justice, because only then will they feel confident to come forward. This is why I’m saying, these are serious, these are not trivial offences.

I wanted to ask the Home Secretary again about this issue of indecent exposure which is highlighted in the report, and the Home Secretary talked a little bit about.

And in my own constituency we had the horrific case of Libby Squire who was raped and murdered by a man who had been stalking and roaming the streets of Hull for 18 months prior to murdering Libby, exposing himself, acts of voyeurism, people didn’t report it because they thought the police would not take it seriously.

Now Libby’s mum, Lisa Squire has been campaigning on this for the last few years, I wondered whether the Home Secretary might meet with Lisa Squire?

(James Cleverly) said at the beginning of his statement that this report and his Government’s actions have brought to light the concerns that women have, I have to say to him - we have had these concerns for forever.

This is not a new situation, but there is an opportunity to do more about it now and I’d be keen to hear from him about how that might pan out.

My thoughts remain with Sarah’s family and friends and nothing I can say or do will reverse the dreadful crimes committed. I also extend my full apology to the other women who have been abused by this man.

I am under no illusion that there is more to do and we are committed to real and lasting improvements. The report does acknowledge we have made progress in tackling abuse of power for sexual purpose by police officers; misconduct relating to violence against women and girls; and the wider vetting processes. But much more is required.

Indecent exposure is a serious crime which has a significant impact on victims. Last year we made it clear that policing will follow all reasonable lines of inquiry. This covers every crime but is particularly relevant to crimes like indecent exposure. Our guidance to officers makes clear the importance of following up any leads which could help us catch an offender. This includes taking a detailed statement, checking if there is CCTV available and looking for forensics. Our new evidenced based approach to sexual offences has a relentless focus on the perpetrator. The College of Policing will ensure all officers are properly trained, skilled and equipped to protect women and girls.

The horrific crimes committed by then-serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens shocked the nation and undermined public confidence in the police.

In the years since, the Home Office has been working closely with the police to strengthen the way that police officers are vetted, scrutinised and disciplined. And more broadly, significant efforts have been made to tackle violence against women, girls.

This is a clear call for action when it comes to all police forces around the country to raise the bar on consistency, as has already been mentioned, when it comes not just to vetting but to action. There is no place for criminal conduct at all or corrupt conduct in policing, we police by consent in our country and that bond has been broken.”

With reports two and three due to come out, will the Home Secretary please give a commitment that as those reviews are undertaken and as he engages with Dame (Elish) Angiolini that where issues are identified, he won’t wait for the publication of further reports, but he will act swiftly and also act very swiftly on putting forward some of the recommendations that are in part one of this report?

Today we’re thinking of Sarah Everard, her loved ones and all who may be affected by the horrifying details being reported today.

Understanding the systemic failings that enabled Couzens to do what he did will never detract from his responsibility for the horrific crimes he committed against Sarah Everard. But in showing us the missed opportunities that might have prevented a police officer from being free to commit rape and murder, it moves us closer to stopping other police officers from abusing their power and status to harm women and girls.

Women’s organisations have long called for non-contact sexual offences such as indecent exposure to be taken seriously, in a reality in which most women don’t report them, police officers fail to investigate or take them seriously, and it is trivialised across society. Online abuse sees the same response. This cannot go on. Our justice agencies and wider society must take seriously these acts which are often part of patterns of offending that can ultimately include rape and murder.

It is absolutely devastating that the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard was entirely preventable. It is clear from this report that Couzens should never have been employed as a police officer or permitted to continue a career in policing. The government and police leaders must urgently heed the inquiry’s recommendations and work with expert women’s organisations to transform the culture of policing to root out misogyny, racism and other forms of discrimination, and demonstrate transparency and accountability at all levels. We will not accept any more failings, excuses, and missed opportunities to prevent police perpetrating violence against women and children.

The reality on women’s safety is the number of prosecutions for domestic abuse has halved, rape prosecutions are still taking years, early action and intervention just does not happen and there is a shocking drift on women’s safety, there is a shocking drift on what the Home Secretary has said today.”

We say that this report should be a watershed, but we said Sarah Everard’s murder three years ago should be a watershed and far too little has changed. How long must we go on and say the same things?

Although I agree with most of what the Home Secretary said, I have to be really blunt about this.

His response is too weak, it is too little and it is too late. And the lack of urgency is unfathomable.

I want once again to express my heartfelt sympathy to Sarah Everard’s family and friends

I cannot begin to imagine the extent of the pain they have felt.

But together we must do everything possible to stop such agony being visited on others, to rebuild public trust and to make sure our streets and public places as well as the private realm are safe for women and girls.

I commend this statement to the House.

Many police officers use their powers to serve bravely but when they fall short the impact can be devastating.

Society cannot function when trust in police is eroded.

Everyone who Couzens hurt is in my thoughts today.

The report makes 16 recommendations and they include improving the police response to indecent exposure, reforming police recruitment and vetting practices and addressing cultures within policing.

The Government will now, of course, carefully consider the report and respond formally in due course, and I can assure the House our response will be prompt.

Everyone at Kent Police is shocked, appalled and disgusted by the crimes Wayne Couzens committed against Sarah Everard and we share in the collective grief for her loss.

Part I of the Angiolini Inquiry report has been made available to us today, and whilst we continue to carefully consider its contents we fully accept the recommendations made of Kent Police.

We also accept our investigation into a 2015 incident of indecent exposure was flawed due to it being allocated to an officer who was not a trained investigator, and apologise for this failing.

The harrowing murder of Sarah Everard, carried out by a serving police officer, who abused his position of trust, has caused untold suffering. Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer.  His offending should have been stopped sooner.  This should never have happened.

Listening this morning to Lady Elish Angiolini’s clear findings of a catalogue of missed opportunities and red flags left me aghast.  Police leaders across the United Kingdom will feel the same and take this as an urgent call for action, and reminder of how far we still have to go. We are reviewing the recommendations in detail and I do not underestimate just how important this is for all of society.

On behalf of policing I cannot adequately express to the Everard family how sorry we are to them and all those who loved Sarah. Lady Elish spoke of others who have suffered and I apologise to any woman or girl who has fallen victim to abuse by a police officer.”

Across history there are crimes that send a signal to us all.  A signal not just about the depravity of the perpetrator, but one of problems in our society or failures in our institutions.  This is a glowing red signal to all police leaders that we must do everything humanly possible to enact these recommendations and change policing for future generations.

We are taking action to ensure there is nowhere to hide in policing for wrongdoers, that our misconduct and vetting processes are reformed, and that our ethics and values are reset.  This report makes clear that we have much more to do to.

We will not stop until the public, especially women and girls, get the police service they expect and deserve and their confidence in our role as protectors is rebuilt.

This inquiry paints a concerning picture of how disciplinary concerns about police officers and recruits are shared.

There is no room to hide behind misconceptions of the law on such an important matter: data protection law does not stand in the way of police sharing information about a potential recruit’s previous disciplinary action or warnings, nor does it act as a shield against investigations into police officers.

There is a need for greater transparency here. The public have a right to understand how information will be shared to encourage trust in high standards of policing, and police officers have a right understand how their information will be shared.

We’ll continue working with the police to make sure data protection law, and the data sharing it allows, is clearly understood and works to serve and protect the best interests of the people of the UK.

It is obvious that Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer. Whilst holding a position of trust, in relative he was a serial sex offender.

Warning signs were overlooked throughout his career and opportunities to confront him were missed.

We believe that Sarah died because he was a police officer - she would never have got into a stranger’s car.

The act of pure evil committed against Sarah shocked the nation to its core. My heart goes out to Sarah’s family and to all the brave victims who came forward to help inform this report and drive change.

The man who committed these crimes is not a reflection on the majority of dedicated police officers working day in, day out to help people. But Sarah was failed in more ways than one by the people who were meant to keep her safe, and it laid bare wider issues in policing and society that need to be urgently fixed.

In the three years since, a root and stem clean-up of the policing workforce has been underway and we have made huge strides – as well as making tackling violence against women and girls a national policing priority to be treated on par with terrorism.

But we will continue to do everything in our power to protect women and girls. I am grateful to Lady Elish for her meticulous investigation. Her insights will be invaluable as we move forward in supporting our police to build forces of the highest standards of integrity and regain the trust of the British public.