Cop arrested over disappearance of Brixton woman Sarah Everard on her way from Clapham friend’s house

A serving cop from the Met has been arrested over the disappearance of Sarah Everard while she walked home from Clapham to Brixton.

The 33-year-old marketing executive has been missing for almost a week – she went missing after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham at about 9pm on Wednesday last week.

The officer was detained at an address in Kent on Tuesday and a woman was also arrested at the same location on suspicion of assisting an offender. They have each been taken into custody at a London police station.

Everard’s family – her parents have travelled down from York to join the search – is being kept updated with developments, the Met said. The directorate of professional standards – the body responsible for investigating complaints against officers – is aware of the case.

Assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave said: “The arrest this evening is a serious and significant development. We will continue to work with all speed on this investigation but the fact that the arrested man is a serving Metropolitan police officer is both shocking and deeply disturbing.

“I understand there will be significant public concern but it is essential the investigative team are given the time and space to continue their work.”

DCI Katherine Goodwin said: “This is a significant development in our inquiry. This is a fast-moving investigation and we are doing everything we can to find Sarah.

“We have seen an overwhelming response from the public and I repeat my request for anyone with information that may be relevant to come forward, no matter how insignificant it may seem.”

Everard has not been seen since she left a friend’s home in Clapham, on the evening of 3 March. She left the home in Leathwaite Road through a back gate onto the A205 South Circular to walk home by herself to Brixton, about 50 minutes away on foot.

The last known sighting of her was on Poynders Road, part of the South Circular Road, which links the two areas, where she was captured on film by a private door camera as she walked alone from the junction at Cavendish Road in the direction of Tulse Hill.

Police put a cordon around a block of flats in South London on Tuesday near where she was last seen. The police cordon was around the Poynders Court housing estate on the north side of the road. But the Metropolitan police refused to confirm whether it was related to the search. Other officers were lifting covers and searching drains along Poynders Road.

The Met has issued new images of Durham University graduate Everard and said the search for her is continuing “at pace”. On Tuesday two officers with sniffer dogs were seen searching outside the nearby Oaklands Estate – on the north side of Poynders Road, and gardens in surrounding streets.

On Monday, searches continued in the area, with police examining a small park close to where Everard’s mobile phone signal was last registered.

Divers were searching the pond in Agnes Riley Gardens, east of the Poynders Gardens Estate, while sniffer dogs scoured the area. Officers were also searching a housing estate close to where Everard was last seen. Missing posters asking for information on her whereabouts have been pasted on lamp-posts in a wide radius around the area.

The Met said officers had visited 750 homes in the area as part of the investigation and the force had received more than 120 phone calls from the public.

Speaking to journalists outside Scotland Yard today, Wednesday 10 March 10, Assistant commissioner Ephgrave said: “Our inquiries suggest that this officer was not on duty at the time of Sarah’s disappearance.”

Mr Ephgrave would not say if the officer was known to Ms Everard, or what he had been arrested for.

The lead detective on the investigation appealed for anyone who drove on Poynders Road at around 9pm on March 3 to review their dashcam footage

Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, urged residents, delivery drivers, and road users to get in touch if they had any clips on the night of Sarah Everard’s disappearance.

She added: “The evidence that you have on your dashcam could be absolutely vital to finding Sarah”.

Everard moved to London about 12 years ago. She has a brother and a sister who also live in the city.

The marketing executive grew up in York where she attended nearby comprehensive Fulford School. Her old headmaster Steve Lewis this week called Everard a “popular and well-liked member of our community”, and “a lovely, bright, intelligent girl who shone within the school.”

Everard later studied human geography at St Cuthbert’s College at Durham University from 2005 to 2008 before moving to London and starting work as a marketing account manager. 

Everard worked at several marketing and PR agencies in London, graduating from senior account manager to group account director between 2009 and 2020, according to LinkedIn.

Last month, she started a new job at Flipside Group, a digital media agency based in Holborn. On her LinkedIn profile, Everard describes herself as a “positive presence” with a “caring attitude for [her] work and team” and friends say she had been looking forward to starting the new position.

Her boyfriend Josh Lowth, a marketing director at MA Exhibitions, which organises trade shows, according to his LinkedIn page.

On Monday, International Women’s Day, he posted on Facebook: “Today, more than ever, we miss our strong, beautiful friend,” alongside the hashtag #internationalwomensday and an illustration from artist Charlie Mackesy begging people to join the search. He also changed his profile picture to the words ‘Find Sarah Everard’.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN THE INVESTIGATION

Wednesday 3 March: Sarah Everard, 33, a marketing executive, goes missing after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham, around 9pm.

Saturday 6 March: Metropolitan police raise the alarm, saying it was “totally out of character” for Everard not to be in contact with family and friends. Police release a CCTV image of her, saying she was thought to have walked through Clapham Common after leaving her friend’s flat, heading towards her home in Brixton, a journey of around 50 minutes.

Sunday 7 March: Police release footage taken from a private doorbell-type camera showing Everard was walking alone along the A205 Poynders Road towards Tulse Hill, just south of Brixton. Police say it is unclear whether or not she reached her house. She was last seen wearing a green rain jacket, navy blue trousers with a white diamond pattern and turquoise and orange trainers, and was thought to have been wearing green earphones and a white beanie hat. Scotland Yard says the investigation is being led by its Specialist Crime Command because of the “complex nature” of the probe, which combines searches with house-to-house inquiries.

Monday 8 March: Scotland Yard says it remains “open minded as to all possibilities”, while confirming a missing persons investigation. Specialist officers are drafted in from across the Met. Police say they have received more than 120 calls from the public on the case and ask anyone who may have relevant dashcam or other footage to come forward.

Tuesday 9 March: Police use sniffer dogs to search gardens in streets around the search site near Everard’s envisaged route home and in the nearby Oaklands Estate.

Officers also search a pond in Clapham Common and drains along the A205. The Met sets up a cordon around the Poynders Court housing complex on Poynders Road as part of the search, with forensics officers seen examining the area.

11.59pm, Tuesday 9 March: The Met says it has arrested a police officer at an address in Kent in connection with Everard’s disappearance, with a woman arrested at the same location on suspicion of assisting an offender. The man and the woman are taken into custody. Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin says the force is still “doing everything we can to find Sarah”.

8.25pm, Wednesday 10 March: Met Commissioner Cressida Dick tells a news briefing: “This evening detectives and search teams investigating Sarah’s disappearance have found, very sadly, what appears to be human remains in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent.

“As you can imagine, at this early stage we are not able to confirm any identity and indeed this may take us some time.

“Specialist officers have been with Sarah’s family to update them on the investigation and to continue to support them as best we possibly can.”