PC who investigated Wayne Couzens receives hate messages

A erstwhile Met Police serviceman recovered blameworthy of gross misconduct implicit her probe into indecent vulnerability by Sarah Everard's slayer says she has received hundreds of hatred messages.

Some messages blamed Samantha Lee for Ms Everard's death, saying she had humor connected her hands.

Ms Lee told the BBC she has been made a "scapegoat" for wider Met failings.

An enquiry volition analyse the circumstances starring to the murder, the Met said.

Ms Lee's probe was carried retired connected 3 March 2021, conscionable hours earlier Couzens kidnapped Ms Everard successful Clapham, south-west London.

Ms Lee, who has been barred from serving successful the constabulary again, told Newsnight: "I deliberation I'm seen arsenic this horrendous, atrocious idiosyncratic that has fto an perfectly heinous transgression instrumentality place. And I'm being looked astatine arsenic if I'm conscionable arsenic blameworthy arsenic what Couzens is.

"But literally, determination was thing that I could person done that would person changed the outcome."

She added: "I don't privation immoderate sympathy astatine all. All I privation is radical conscionable to recognize that determination is thing that I could person done."

Ms Lee, 29, says it feels "highly unfair" that she has been a nationalist absorption of the inquiries into the Met's action, adding: "It's been a lawsuit of let's spell successful astatine the bottommost alternatively than going up higher astatine the top."

The Met said that Ms Lee's disciplinary proceeding was not astir her handling of the probe of Couzens but astir her "honesty and integrity" during it.

She revealed immoderate of the astir abusive messages sent to her connected societal media person been reported to police, including ones "saying that it should person been maine that was kidnapped and murdered".

Ms Lee said she felt she was being "blamed wholly for the horrendous execution of Sarah Everard."

"The lone idiosyncratic that should beryllium blamed for that awful, awful, horrendous crime" should beryllium Wayne Couzens, she added.

Couzens, a erstwhile Met Police officer, kidnapped and murdered Sarah Everard soon aft exposing himself to unit astatine a McDonald's subdivision successful Swanley, Kent, connected 14 and 27 February 2021.

In March this year, Couzens was sentenced to 19 months successful situation aft admitting 3 counts of indecent exposure.

He was already serving beingness down bars for the kidnap, rape and execution of Ms Everard.

Ms Lee, from Bromley, south-east London, near the Met past year.

On Tuesday this week, a disciplinary sheet president criticised Ms Lee's "lamentably poor" probe into the incidents; had she inactive been a serving officer, she would person been dismissed.

The erstwhile serviceman was recovered to person failed to marque "the close investigative inquiries" erstwhile she went to the McDonald's Couzens exposed himself in.

The restaurant's manager told the proceeding helium had shown Ms Lee CCTV of Couzens wherever his fig sheet was intelligibly visible, and showed her receipts which recorded the past 4 digits of his outgo card.

Ms Lee said helium had told her the footage had already been deleted, a assertion the proceeding was told was a prevarication to screen up her failure.

At the clip of Ms Lee's probe into Couzens, constabulary carrying retired fig sheet checks would not person known whether the conveyance proprietor was an officer.

Ms Lee says the Met was besides treating indecent vulnerability arsenic a "low level" offence and that is wherefore she was not asked to analyse immediately.

Ms Lee admits making mistakes successful her probe but inactive insists she did not prevarication astir not viewing the CCTV footage, suggesting the McDonald's manager had showed the images to different officer, not her.

"I should person astir apt asked a batch much questions astir the CCTV and done a much thorough investigation," she said.

"I've gone implicit successful my caput truthful galore times... if I'd person done that, would the atrocious events that happened that time person been prevented and [that] conscionable wouldn't happen."

She added the revelation that Couzens was a constabulary serviceman was "traumatising for myself, particularly due to the fact that I was linked to the case".

Ms Lee said the constabulary should person sent idiosyncratic to analyse sooner, "there was decidedly opportunities that were missed, but not by myself. I'd accidental that's much by the organisation".

She besides highlighted an indecent vulnerability incidental from 2015 that has been linked to Couzens, that has not been investigated by Kent Police.

"I decidedly consciousness similar it's much of a lawsuit of I've been benignant of I privation to usage the word scapegoat, but it's benignant of similar I've been treated wholly unfairly arsenic a pistillate PC...

"I'm conscionable idiosyncratic who's capable to beryllium thrown nether the autobus to go, right?

"'She's done a unspeakable job. We've got escaped of this officer. Now we tin brushwood this nether the array and unreal similar it ne'er happened.' And alternatively than making the genuine changes that I judge would person really prevented this."

Asked to comment, the Met referred the BBC to a connection from Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy, issued aft the disciplinary proceeding concluded.

He said that the sheet recovered Ms Lee's actions "fell beneath the nonrecreational standards expected of her. As the sheet has made clear, honesty and integrity are cardinal to policing and our narration with the public.

"The intent of the gross misconduct proceeding was not to determine whether Wayne Couzens' aboriginal offending could person been prevented."

He added: "Fundamentally, I americium atrocious that Couzens was not arrested earlier helium went connected to execution Sarah Everard and we proceed to deliberation of her loved ones.

"We cognize that successful caller years the Met's effect to unit against women and girls has not been bully enough. We are moving hard with survivors, communities and partners to amended our effect and rebuild trust."

You tin ticker the afloat interrogation with Samantha Lee connected Newsnight connected BBC Two astatine 22:30 BST, oregon catch-up aboriginal connected iPlayer (UK only)