A serving Metropolitan Police officer has appeared in court charged with kidnapping and murdering Sarah Everard, who went missing in south London last week.

Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in person before Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the first time following his arrest on Tuesday.

He confirmed his name and address.

The case will be sent to a crown court in the coming days.

Ms Everard, a marketing executive originally from York, vanished on 3 March as she walked from the nearby Clapham Junction area to her home in Brixton.

She had been at a friend’s house when she left the property in Leathwaite Road around 9pm.

The last known sighting of the 33-year-old was captured on a doorbell camera just after 9.30pm showing her walking alone toward Tulse Hill.

Her body was found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, a week later.

Yesterday, Couzens was taken to hospital for the second time in 48 hours for treatment on a fresh head injury sustained in custody.

He was previously treated in hospital for a separate head wound on Thursday, also sustained in custody when he was alone in his cell.

Meanwhile, a woman in her 30s who was previously arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released on bail.

She is due to return to a police station in mid-April.

In an earlier statement announcing the charges against Couzens, the Met revealed his previous employment history in the force in the “interests of clarity”.

He joined the force in September 2018, when he worked with a response team that covered Bromley.

He was later posted to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in February 2020.

Here, Couzens is said to have been mostly sent on uniformed patrol duties of diplomatic premises, including a range of embassies.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Speaking outside New Scotland Yard on Friday, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave paid tribute to Ms Everard’s family and friends for their “fortitude and forbearance through what can only have been the most intensely difficult few days”.

He added: “Our thoughts remain with them as this matter progresses.”

Ms Everard’s death has prompted an outpouring of grief from the public, with many women and girls sharing stories online of their own traumatic experiences.

A vigil planned by Reclaim These Streets in Clapham on Saturday evening has been cancelled following discussions with police.

Instead, organisers said a virtual gathering would be arranged.

Related posts:

Deaths in England were almost 30% higher last month than five-year average for January ‘Teachers know us better than an algorithm’: Students support exam grades decision ‘It didn’t hurt at all’: Queen urges people unsure about COVID jab to get vaccinated COVID-19 infection rates drop again across the UK, according to ONS data Number of daily first COVID jabs in UK falls to lowest since early January Troubles amnesty will coincide with 1971 Ballymurphy shootings inquest verdict Durham professor who called students ‘pathetic’ for staging walkout steps back from some duties Quarantine hotels appeal to be launched after lawyers lose judicial review ‘A beautiful day’: Extinction Rebellion trio cleared and Insulate Britain protesters released from jail Omicron ‘exit wave’ possible in the summer, scientists say COVID cases ‘plateauing’ in London, East and South East, with hospital admissions ‘slowing’ Tory chairman ‘hopeful’ COVID restrictions can be lifted by end of January