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Corrupt cop Met who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard was extradited £ 20,000 to avoid being sentenced to death in prison.
Wayne Couzens, 48, who has now been fired from police, has been given a huge sum to fund his defense against horrific crimes.
Couzens – who owns a £ 225,000 home – has pleaded guilty to a crime and legal aid has been paid to him for having the esteemed Silk Jim Sturman QC mitigate his case at the time of sentencing.
The amount could be a shock to Miss Everard’s family, which was destroyed by the crimes of a former diplomatic protection official.
Legal aid is financial, so it’s not clear where Couzens ’own money went.
Due to employment rules, he was still paid £ 33,000 in police salary until he pleaded guilty in July this year.
David Spencer, director of research at the Crime Prevention Center, was appalled when MailOnline revealed the costs to him.
He said: “Wayne Couzens confessed to a grotesque crime and was justifiably sentenced to life in prison for it. As a police officer, he earned a good salary and it is completely wrong to be able to claim thousands of pounds of taxpayer money in a convicted attempt to reduce fines.
“This is the latest in a long line of abuses of legal aid to help convicted criminals stay out of prison.
“This is not what the system was designed for, not what taxpayers expect it to be used for. We have been assured that a review of legal aid is under way. This case highlights more than ever how much reform is needed. ‘
Mr Sturman’s lawyer unsuccessfully argued at the time of his conviction that the sex offender murderer should not have died in prison, where he is serving a life sentence.
He asked Old Bailey and Lord Judge Fulford to impose customs duties on the deadline he gave Couzens, but the judge disagreed.
Wayne Couzens will die in prison and serve a life sentence for killing Miss Everard in March
Couzens had the well-respected silk Jim Sturman QC soften his case in Old Bailey
Couzens, 48, made a false arrest of Covid to catch Miss Everard in his rented car
Mr Sturman insisted: “With the 35-year tariff, it is likely that the accused will still spend his entire life in prison.
“Most of the cases in which life sentences were handed down were multiple murders or there was another conviction, murder of children or politically motivated.”
MailOnline may disclose Couzens ’£ 20,122.75 legal aid, funded by a lawyer, when he was brought to London for questioning after his arrest.
But the majority – £ 17,136 – went to the lawyer’s costs, including his conviction, and £ 2,692.74 for payments.
The cost is expected to rise further as Couzens has filed an appeal against his life rate.
An appeals court official said in October: “An application has been lodged (permission to lodge an appeal against the sentence)”.
Couzens (pictured in handcuffs) lied at a police test that he was ‘backed’ by an Eastern European gang that threatened to harm his family if he refused to pick up the woman.
Couzens, 48, was sentenced to life in prison for the abduction, rape and murder of Miss Everard.
Couzens used Covid’s powers to carry out the false arrest of 33-year-old marketing executive Miss Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham in March.
He continued with such horrific crimes that in the next few hours they shocked the nation and undermined trust in the police.
Couzens used his warrant and handcuffs to commit the crime, and planned to at least a month before the March 3 abduction.
His September sentence was the first time he had been sentenced to life in prison for a single murder of an adult that was not committed during a terrorist attack.
Numerous allegations have come to light about Couzens since he was imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole after he kidnapped, raped and murdered Miss Everard.
He is known to have been indecently exposed when driving naked from the waist down in his car while serving with them in 2015.
Couzens was also identified as responsible for committing the same crime at a McDonald’s restaurant a few days before he targeted Miss Everard.
On March 3, he staged a false arrest of Covid, handcuffed her and put her in his car before driving 80 miles to Kent, where he raped and murdered her. A few days later, he burned her body and left it in the woods near the land he owned.
Met faced a wave of criticism for missing an opportunity to expose Couzens as a sexual predator before killing Miss Everard.
The 48-year-old turned out to be known as a “rapist” by civilian nuclear police staff because his colleagues felt so uncomfortable.
In 2015, he was accused of indecent exposure in Kent and London in the days leading up to Mrs Everard’s murder, but was allowed to continue working.
A Justice Ministry spokesman said: “Anyone facing a trial in the Crown Court is entitled to legal aid, subject to a rigorous financial test.
“Applicants for criminal assistance may be required to pay contributions up to the full cost of the defense, depending on their resources.”
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