Wayne Couzens to spend life in prison after losing appeal to reduce sentence

He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Wayne Couzens, the man who was convicted of murdering Sarah Everard in 2021, is set to spend the rest of his life in prison after losing a bid to reduce his sentence. The former British police officer was handed a whole life term last year for the rape and murder of the 33-year-old, which is the first time in British history that a sentence like this has been imposed for a single murder of an adult. Appealing the sentence, Couzens' lawyers argued he deserved "decades in jail" but felt the severity of the sentence was extreme. Chief Justice Burnett dismissed the bid, saying this morning, according to RTE: "The issue at the heart of the appeal, is whether this murder, with its unique features, justified the judge's overall conclusion that it merited a whole life order. We have concluded that it does, albeit we would, with respect, arrive at this conclusion by a different route from the judge. "This was, as the judge said, warped, selfish and brutal offending, which was both sexual and homicidal. "It was a case with unique and extreme aggravating features. Chief amongst these, as the judge correctly identified, was the grotesque misuse by Couzens of his position as a police officer, with all that connoted, to facilitate Ms Everard's kidnap, rape and murder." The judge went on to say that his sentence would be a minimum term of 30 years, noting that due to the severity of the crime, "a whole life order rather than a minimum term order should be made." As Couzens had used his "knowledge and status as a police officer to perpetrate his appalling crimes", the "cold-blooded" aspects of the case were considered when coming up with the sentence. Due to his misuse as a police officer, the other four judges present agreed with a whole life order and said his guilty plea did not affect the outcome due to the nature of the crime.