Sarah Everard’s mother has said she misses the “goodness” of her daughter who “added beauty to the world”.
Five years on from her murder, Susan Everard shared personal memories of Sarah and paid tribute to her thoughtfulness, principles and sense of humour.
An article she has written for Vogue UK is illustrated by a picture of 23-year-old Sarah at V Festival in 2010, in a photo taken for its street style series.
“I love to see her, happy and beautiful, with her whole life ahead of her,” writes Ms Everard.
“It was a golden time when she had recently graduated and was back home from travels to Southeast Asia.”
Sarah was killed by Wayne Couzens – then a serving Metropolitan Police officer – a decade later. He abducted her from a London street in one of the most infamous UK murders in years.
Her face has become instantly recognisable – but Susan Everard’s article gives a snapshot of how her daughter, who was 33 when she was killed, lived her life.
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“There was a depth to her, she led her life with decency and integrity. She cared about others and worried about us in the pandemic,” she writes.
“I miss the goodness of Sarah: she was thoughtful and dependable and highly principled. I valued her opinion,” adds Mrs Everard.
“I miss being able to talk to her and to ask for her thoughts and what she would do. I would always tell her how clever she was, but she was far too self-critical to accept that and far too modest.”
She says her daughter, who worked in marketing in London, was also funny and “appreciated the absurd but could also be outraged at injustice and bad behaviour”.
‘A beautiful dancer’
Mrs Everard says she “cherishes” memories of Sarah and misses little things; her laugh, asking for her opinions and advice, and swapping recipes.
“Sarah had many talents but, in particular, I like to think of her dancing – she was a beautiful dancer,” she says.
“Most of all, she was a loving and caring young woman; her many friendships are a testament to her lovely nature. She added to the beauty of the world.”
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Sarah’s murder led to renewed calls for more to be done to protect women and girls from violence and harassment. The Metropolitan Police also faced intense scrutiny over why Couzens was still serving as an officer, after past accusations of indecent exposure, sexual assault and rape.
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Despite the outcry, a Sky News investigation has found dozens of officers across the country have been investigated for rape since Sarah Everard’s death.
All 17 forces that responded to Freedom of Information requests confirmed they had launched criminal inquiries for sexual offences allegations into officers, while 16 had done so for rape allegations.
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News the force took such accusations extremely seriously.
“People should be reassured… if there’s a criminal allegation of sexual or domestic violence in nature, the starting presumption is an officer is going to be suspended,” he said.
“We’ve removed 1,500 people from the Met in three years, that’s completely unprecedented.”
