Caroline Russell [Chris King Photography]

THE chair of City Hall’s police and crime committee said yesterday (Thursday) that the Met police’s “rotten foundations” had been laid bare by new shocking revelations about Wayne Couzens, the officer who abducted, raped and killed Sarah Everard in south London in 2021.

The first findings of the Angiolini Inquiry – an independent investigation into the circumstances led by lawyer Lady Elish Angiolini – revealed the weak vetting process that took place when Couzens applied to join the force.

London Assembly member Caroline Russell, who is also a Green councillor in Islington, said: “The glaring failure to pick up on countless instances of indecent exposure, misogynistic attitudes, and spreading graphic images will further erode Londoners’ trust in the Met.

“To know that an officer behaving like that, raising so many red flags, was met with inaction by the police does nothing to tell Londoners, particularly women, that they are safe as they head home tonight.The Met says it’s trying to fix its foundations, but everything we heard today shows just how rotten those foundations are.”

Before becoming a police officer, Couzens, now serving a “life means life” prison term, had already been accused of a sexual assault against a child, the report said, and should never have been hired.

The inquiry was ordered by the Home Office.