Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice is a new documentary focusing on the devastating murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in March 2021.
The one-off programme will focus on the Met's investigation into the crime that saw Sarah abducted off the streets of London by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home from a friend's house. It will also look at the impact her murder had on the nation and how this terrible crime came to even happen.
The production team behind the documentary has been in close contact with Sarah’s parents and they hope that it will bring increased focus on women’s safety and abuse of power by police and other positions of authority.
Couzens pleaded guilty to Sarah's rape and kidnap in June 2021 before admitting to her murder a month later while locked up at Belmarsh high-security jail. He is currently serving a whole-life sentence.
Here is everything we know about Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice...
Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice release date
Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice will air on Tuesday, March 5 on BBC One at 9 pm, just days after the third anniversary of Sarah's death.
The documentary is also now available on BBC iPlayer and is a stand-alone 60-minute programme.
What will Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice cover?
This new documentary, which has been two and a half years in the making, includes CCTV footage, media coverage and archived police interviews with Couzens upon his arrest and in police custody. Viewers will also see the crime unfold through astonishing CCTV and police body-cam footage.
As well as the production team working alongside Sarah's parents, on screen we will hear from the Senior Investigating Officer from Sarah's case, the Prosecuting Barrister and Sarah’s local MP, many of whom are speaking on camera for the first time.
The documentary will show an officer interviewing Couzens while holding a picture of Everard, saying: “People trust us to look after them. People trust us to help them. You know, protect and serve, that’s what they say isn’t it? That’s what we’re here to do. We all took that oath, you included.”
Det Ch Insp Katherine Goodwin will tell of the 'shock' of having to tell her boss that Sarah's killer was a serving officer. The detective will also recall how officers had traced a name linked to a car seen in CCTV footage. The footage showed a man standing with Ms Everard next to a vehicle in Clapham, where she had been walking. This will be the first time Det Ch Insp Goodwin has spoken on camera about the case.
She says: "At that time, Wayne Couzens was a name that meant nothing to any of us. So immediately we start researching the name, also the phone number and the address that had been given when he'd hired the car. I knew that I had to tell my boss and I can just remember the shock of having to just sit on the floor of the office and say to her, 'You're not going to believe this, that he's a police officer'. And then the same questions went through her head as went through my head: 'Are you sure?'."
Where is Wayne Couzens now?
Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life term in prison and will never be released.
An inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini said Couzens should never have been hired as a police officer and found the force culpable for leaving him at large. Lady Elish said, "without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight."
Is there a trailer for Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice?
No, there isn't an official trailer, however, the BBC has released this preview clip, which shows the chilling moment the police found out that Sarah's killer was a serving officer in the Met...
