PC Wayne Couzens, 48, ADMITS kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard and ‘accepts responsibility’ for killing her

PC Wayne Couzens has pleaded guilty to the kidnap and rape of Sarah Everard.

The Old Bailey heard Couzens, 48, accepted responsibility for the killing of Ms Everard but was not asked to enter a plea to a charge of murder.

Sarah was reported missing in Clapham, south London, on March 3. 

A major police investigation was launched and her body was found a week later in woodland in Kent.

Couzens was not asked to enter a plea for a count of murder but his defence told the court he had admitted responsibility for the killing. 

A medical report on Couzens is awaited.

He pleaded guilty to kidnapping Ms Everard "unlawfully and by force or fraud" on March 3.

He also pleaded guilty to a second charge of rape between March 2 and 10.

Members of Ms Everard's family sat in court to witness the defendant enter his pleas.

A further hearing before Lord Justice Fulford is due to take place on July 9.

Ms Everard, 33, disappeared from south London in March and was later discovered more than 50 miles away in Kent.

A post mortem report revealed the marketing executive, originally from York, had been strangled.

Human remains were discovered a week later next to a defunct leisure and golf complex around 55 miles away near Ashford in Kent, with dental records confirming the body belonged to Miss Everard.

Couzens served with the Met since 2018 and was attached to an armed unit responsible for guarding the London parliamentary estate and embassies.

Couzens, of Deal, Kent, is due to stand trial in October.