Sarah Everard's murderer denies accusation of flashing

Sarah Everard's killer, Wayne Couzens, has pleaded not guilty to a number of camera flash charges.

Couzens, 49, is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Everard in March last year while he was on duty as an officer with the Metropolitan Police.

At the beginning of the year, four suspected hypothermia incidents are said to have occurred in Swanley, Kent.

On Tuesday, Couzens, from Deal in Kent, appeared before Judge Mark Lucraft QC at the Old Bailey via video link from Frankland Prison in Durham.

Dressed in a grey sweatshirt and with a white beard, Couzens spoke first to confirm his identity.

During the hearing, Couzens, a former armed officer with the Metropolitan Police's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, denied four charges of exposure.

The indictment states that he allegedly “intentionally exposed his genitals with the intent that someone might see them and thereby cause terror and alarm.”

The incidents are said to have occurred four times in Swanley, Kent, between January 22 and February 1, 2021, January 30 and February 6, and February 14 and February 27.

Judge Lucraft set a timetable for the case, with further hearings scheduled at the Old Bailey over three days starting on 1 November.

Prosecutor Tom Little QC noted: “As there is no trial judge currently assigned, it is not even possible in the circumstances to set a trial date provisionally.”

Judge Lucraft confirmed that all parties would be informed once a decision had been made as to who would try the case and that efforts would be made to set a trial date.

The case was referred to the Old Bailey last month following a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Chief Justice Paul Goldspring had said the case was suitable for trial in a magistrates' court, but Couzens opted for a crown court hearing.