Sarah Everard’s parents call for tougher sentences for violent criminals
Sarah Everard’s parents have called for serious violent and sexual criminals to receive tougher sentencing.
Jeremy and Susan Everard’s daughter was abducted, raped and murdered by then-serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.
In a statement, they said it was “important that sentences should truly reflect the seriousness of the crime and give victims, their families and society a sense of justice having been served”.
The couple are part of Justice for Victims, a new campaign group set up by the families and loved ones of victims of serious crimes, which is being launched in parliament on Wednesday.
The group was formed amid ongoing public concern about serious criminals escaping proper punishment, Justice for Victims said.
“Although nothing can alleviate the sense of loss, it is a relief to us that our daughter’s murderer received a whole-life order,” Mr and Mrs Everard said.
“It made us feel that the enormity of his crime was recognised and that our daughter’s life was valued.
“We know of other families in similar circumstances who have not had this small comfort.”
Wayne Couzens was sentenced to a whole life prison term. Pic: Met Police
Paula Hudgell, the adoptive mother of double amputee Tony Hudgell, 10, is also part of the group.
Tony was just 41 days old when he was assaulted by his birth parents, an attack which caused multiple fractures and dislocations, and blunt trauma to the face, leading to organ failure, toxic shock, and sepsis.
He was left untreated and in agony for 10 days. Due to the extent of his injuries, both his legs had to be amputated.
Tony Hudgell’s adoptive mother is also part of the group. Pic: PA
Jody Simpson and her partner Anthony Smith were jailed for 10 years in 2018.
Ms Hudgell said: “When criminals abuse children they are creating a devastating impact for the rest of that child’s life.
“Many decades can be spent wrestling with the aftermath. Yet perpetrators can be out of prison living a free life whilst the suffering for the victim goes on for decades.
“We need a justice system that reflects that properly. I have seen so many cases of child abusers that don’t get a punishment that fits the crime. Let alone child murderers – they shouldn’t get out of prison in my view.”
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Katie Brett, whose 16-year-old sister Sasha Marsden, from Blackpool, was stabbed to death in 2013, said: “You hear about people getting a life sentence.
“The people who really get the life sentence are families like mine. In the end most murderers end up getting out of prison – sometimes after as little as 15 or 20 years.
“My sister had decades of life ahead of her.”
Sasha Marsden was 16 when she was murdered in Blackpool in 2013. Pic: Rex Features
She added: “Surely if you take a life the starting point should be spending the rest of your life in prison? That’s what we wanted as a family and what would have been respectful of my sister’s memory.
“I think that’s what most families would want and I think most people would support that.”
Other victims’ families who are part of the group include the parents of four-year-old Violet-Grace Youens, who was killed by a motorist driving at more than 80mph in a 30mph zone in 2017, and Ayse Hussein whose cousin Mihrican “Jan” Mustafa was murdered by a convicted paedophile in 2019.
Ms Mustafa went missing in May 2018 and her body was found in a freezer in her murderer Zahid Younis’s flat in Canning Town, east London.
The Justice For Victims group will meet with cross-party MPs and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday.
Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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