FREE TO KILL 

Wayne Couzens flashed cyclist while on duty & McDonald’s staff before murdering Sarah Everard but Met failed to stop him

• Published: 12:40, 14 Feb 2023
• Updated: 12:53, 14 Feb 2023

• )

KILLER cop Wayne Couzens flashed a horrified cyclist while on duty just weeks before murdering Sarah Everard.

The monster, 50, yesterday pleaded guilty to three indecent exposure offences.

It has now emerged police took no action at the time meaning Couzens was free to serve in the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

Shockingly, one incident unfolded just three days before the predator raped and murdered Sarah.

Couzens twice exposed himself at a McDonald’s in Swanley, Kent, while paying for his food naked in his car at the drive-thru window.

Staff were left “shaken, upset and angry” and named Couzens “the penis guy” over his sick antics.

Police were given his car number plate and description but did not even speak to him about any of the flashing incidents.

Chillingly, the Seat he was in was the same car used to abduct Sarah just three days later.

Couzens also used his own credit card to pay for his food and his car was registered to him but the Met said his job was not uncovered until after her killing.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is now investigating whether disciplinary action should be taken over missed opportunities.

Couzens also admitted exposing himself in woodland near Deal November 2020 to a female cyclist.

The fiend was meant to be on duty when he stepped out of the trees naked and performed a sex act on himself.

She gave a partial vehicle registration and a description but the case was not pursued.

The victim came forward again after seeing the horrific news about Sarah’s murder and positively identified Couzens as the flasher.

Detailing the case, Mrs Justice May said: “She was scared and shaken, and could do nothing but cycle past, up the hill, as fast as she was able.”

Jim Sturman KC, defending, had previously argued Couzens could not receive a “fair trial” due to previous publicity about him.

The brute lured marketing executive Sarah into his car by fake arresting her using his warrant card.

He then drove her 80 miles to Kent where he raped her then used his police-issue belt to strangle her.

After he was charged with Sarah’s murder, it emerged Couzens slipped through the net despite colleagues knowing he had indulged his dark fantasies.

His creeped-out colleagues branded him “The Rapist” and knew he had a sadistic interest in violent porn.

But a catalogue of errors allowed vile Couzens to roam free.

He was not given enhanced vetting when he joined the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit in February 2020.

The predator also did not serve his full two years on probation in September 2018.

Couzens last year joined the grim ranks of criminals in the UK who will die behind bars after receiving a whole life tariff.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Professionalism Bas Javid said: “We know the public will, understandably, be sickened at yet more grotesque crimes by Couzens.

“The process of flushing out the corrupt and the criminal from the Met will be slow and painful, but is necessary and we will continue to do so.