PROTESTERS took fresh action against the Tory policing Bill today as a court heard that ex-officer Wayne Couzens used a false arrest to rape and kill Sarah Everard.

Campaigners warned that “police don’t keep women safe” as they gathered outside the Old Bailey, where Mr Couzens, 48, is being sentenced in a two-day hearing after admitting to the murder, rape and kidnap of Ms Everard.

The court heard how he used his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card and handcuffs to snatch her as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3.

Tom Little QC said that Mr Couzens may have used Covid-19 lockdown regulations to trick Ms Everard into entering his car.

The court heard that two witnesses saw the officer handcuffing Ms Everard on the pavement, but assumed that she “must have done something wrong.” 

Mr Little told the court: “She was detained by fraud: the defendant using his warrant card and handcuffs as well as his other police issue equipment to effect a false arrest.” 

He said Ms Everard was a victim of “deception, kidnap, rape, strangulation [and] fire,” telling the court that Couzens burnt her body in an attempt to hide his crimes. 

Ms Everard’s mother Susan read a statement to the court as her daughter’s killer sat in the dock. “Sarah died in horrendous circumstances,” she said. “I am tormented at the thought of what she endured.

“In her last hours she was faced with brutality and terror, alone with someone intent on doing her harm. The thought of it is unbearable. I am haunted by the horror of it …

“I am repulsed by the thought of Wayne Couzens and what he did to Sarah.

“I am outraged that he masqueraded as a policeman in order to get what he wanted. Sarah wanted to get married and have children, now all that has gone.”

Protesters outside the court accused the Met of having “blood on their hands” and highlighted other cases of police violence against women.

Sisters Uncut, which led the Clapham Common vigil for Ms Everard that was stormed by officers in March, warned against handing more powers to officers as proposed in the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill.

“Wayne Couzens used his power as a police officer to kidnap and rape Sarah Everard,” a member of the campaign group said. “We know that this is not a rare occurrence — one woman a week reports a serving police officer for domestic or sexual violence.

“The police don’t keep women safe, and they cannot be given more powers.”

More than 700 reports of domestic abuse were made against police officers between 2015 and 2018, according to research by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism. 

Women Will Not Be Silenced, a campaign group set up in the wake of the Clapham Common vigil, said it was shocked and saddened to hear the details of Ms Everard’s false arrest.

The group’s Helen O’Connor told the Morning Star: “This abuse of power by an authority figure will strike fear into the heart of every woman.

“This is why we oppose the policing Bill, because it gives the police unbridled power, and we are calling for this Bill to be dropped.”

In a statement, the End Violence Against Women Coalition said: “The fact that Couzens was a serving police officer when he murdered Sarah Everard is a reminder of how structures of power can mask and enable abusers. 

“The Met Police has an appalling track record of responding to perpetrators within their ranks. 

“How can we be expected to take their efforts at tackling violence against women and girls seriously when they aren’t able to hold their own officers accountable?” 

Scotland Yard said that officers were “sickened, angered and devastated by this man’s crimes, which betray everything we stand for.”

The force said it recognised that his actions raised concerns but that it would not be commenting until the hearing is over. 

Mr Couzens faces a possible whole-life sentence when he is sentenced by Lord Justice Fulford today.