MP calls for a comprehensive inquiry into Sarah Everard murder
A South London MP has said that the inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard should address “institutional misogyny” in the police.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, wrote to the Home Secretary urging her to strengthen the inquiry into the murder of her constituent, Ms Everard, at the hands of a serving police officer.
Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a whole life term in September last year for using his position to kidnap, rape, and murder Sarah Everard in March 2021.
She said: “The ultimate aim of this inquiry should be to ensure this never happens again by addressing the wider issues of institutional misogyny within policing which have come to light in the wake of Sarah’s murder.
“Without powers to compel witnesses and without a proper focus on the problem in the wider force, I fear this inquiry is simply a way for the Government to sweep the problem under the carpet, even as they ramp up police powers.
“If women in my constituency and around the country are going to have full confidence in the police again, we need a comprehensive inquiry that doesn’t shy away from examining the full extent of the problem.”
The Government set out the terms of reference for Phase 1 of the Angiolini Inquiry earlier this week.
Ms Ribeiro-Addy is urging the Home Secretary to put the inquiry on a statutory footing and broaden the terms of reference to examine the wider problem of police-perpetrated abuse.
In the letter, she noted that just 83 of the 750 Metropolitan Police officers who faced sexual misconduct allegations over the last decade went on to lose their jobs.
She also referenced issues with police obstruction in the Daniel Morgan inquiry, the Government’s most recently concluded non-statutory inquiry, which reported in June 2021, eight years after its formation and after multiple delays in publication.
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