Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens has pleaded guilty to the murder of Sarah Everard.

Couzens kidnapped Ms Everard in a hire car as she walked home alone from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.

The 48-year-old firearms-trained parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer, who had clocked off from a 12-hour shift that morning, went on to rape and strangle the 33-year-old marketing executive.

Last month, Couzens, from Deal in Kent, accepted responsibility for killing Ms Everard and pleaded guilty to her kidnap and rape.

Today, he pleaded guilty to her murder when he appeared at the Old Bailey via a video link from Belmarsh high security jail.

Ms Everard’s disappearance sparked a major investigation, with her body being found in a woodland in Ashford, Kent, a week later.

In June, police revealed that Ms Everard’s cause of death was “compression of the neck”.

The finding was made in a post-mortem examination into the death of the marketing manager.

An inquest into her death was opened and adjourned pending the outcome of criminal proceedings.

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