Met Police investigate whether Wayne Couzens has struck BEFORE: Police reveal 'on-going' probe into killer cop and urge public to come forward - as criminologists say his 'experienced behaviour' hints that Sarah Everard may not have been his first victim
Detectives from the Met Police are actively investigating if killer cop Wayne Couzens is connected to any further historic crimes.
Officers this evening appealed for any so-far unknown victims of the sexual predator to contact them if they were targeted by him.
Currently they have not linked him to any offences of the same seriousness as the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
But the Met action emerged hours after criminologists told MailOnline his crime suggested 'he had done this before'.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'As you would expect we continue to make enquiries to establish whether he has been involved in other criminal offences.
'As these investigations are ongoing we are unable to go into further detail although, at this time, we have not identified anything that is of the same level of seriousness as the crimes he has been sentenced for.
'We are keen to hear from anyone who may have information about any criminality they believe Couzens was involved in.'
The killer rapist, 48, who staged a fake arrest as a ploy to trap Ms Everard in the back of his car, was this morning sentenced to a whole life order for his barbaric crimes.
But experts say the confidence in which he carried out the abduction shows he had done it before. And the way he disposed of Miss Everard’s body by burning her remains signalled ‘experienced behaviour’.
And in summarising the case as he sentenced Couzens, Lord Justice Fulford spoke at length at the detailed plans he had made to snatch a victim off the street.
He told the Old Bailey the killer 'spent at least a month travelling to London to research', adding 'The degree of preparation and the length of time over which it extended is to be stressed'.
The Met Police did not respond to whether he was being linked to any other serious crimes today. His previous force Kent is not believed to be looking at any historic offences.
But criminologist Professor David Wilson told MailOnline: ‘I am absolutely convinced he is being looked at for other things.
‘Everything revealed yesterday suggests Couzens has behaved in this way before.
‘It suggests to me this wasn’t his first offence. Nobody moves into this type of behaviour overnight – they are a long time in the making.
‘Nothing would surprise me about Wayne Couzens and Wayne Couzens’ previous offending.
‘I would treat him in the same category as John Worboys – because of the circumstances of him using his occupation to target lone women.
'He was engaged in a lot of planning. One of the riskiest things was he drove her 80 miles with a handcuffed woman in the back of his car.
‘The fact he did suggests he thought he was safe and that must come from the fact he has done something similar in the past.
This is the moment Couzens staged his fake arrest to lure Sarah Everard into being handcuffed and put in the back of his car. Ciminologists suggest his cold confidence on the night he snatched Ms Everard could mean this was not his first attack - despite him being convicted of no offences.
The two vehicles used in killer cop's horrific crime: How Wayne Couzens used a rental Vauxhall Crossland and his own Seat family vehicle to commit his horrific crime. First, prowling central London for a lone woman before parking up in Clapham and confronting Sarah Everard. He used his police ID and Covid laws as an excuse to stage her false arrest, handcuffing her and placing her in the back seat of the rental car. Later, following an 80-mile journey out of London, Couzens transfered Ms Everard to his own black Seat, which he had parked up on a remote stretch of road in Dover.
This fridge was used by Couzens to burn Miss Everard's clothing and body just yards from his own plot of land. Criminologists have told MailOnline that his meticulous planning for the disposal of Sarah Everard's body shows 'experienced behaviour', suggesting he may have struck before.
‘What was unusual – and suggests his experience – was his disposal of the body.
‘Burning someone’s remains is a good way to get rid of it. All of that suggests this is experienced behaviour.'
Depraved Couzens used his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card and handcuffs to snatch Miss Everard as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3.
Couzens, a firearms officer, had clocked off from a 12-hour shift at the American embassy that morning but in the time leading up to the kidnap had cruised the capital looking for a victim.
He posed as an undercover officer to stage the fake arrest before driving to a secluded rural area near Dover in Kent, where he parked up and raped Miss Everard.
Prof Wilson added: 'The detail that were released were all about behaviour and they were practiced and controlled.
‘They were quite obviously related to his sexual fantasies. In my experience nobody makes their sexual fantasies a reality overnight.
‘The fake arrest may well be a signifier in his behaviour. He is quite clearly interested in uniform, sadism and masochism, control and handcuffs.
‘His nickname was apparently “the rapist” at work, he had obviously other complaints of indecent exposures to women previous to Sarah’s murder.‘We have to take these indecent exposures as a very serious indicator of abhorrent sexual behaviour.
‘He is 48 years old, this is not a 25-year-old who is at the beginning of his offending career.
‘This is somebody who is mature who has had a lot of life experience and that is an indicator his past life needs looking into.’
Criminal psychologist Dr David Holmes agreed police should appeal for any more potential victims of Couzens.
He told MailOnline: 'This is unlikely to be his first offence, he has just not been caught before. I think some kind of public appeal would be a good idea.
'This kind of behaviour does not suddenly emerge. The cold, calm way he did it would say this is something that was part of his repertoire.
'It may be his first killing but I would have thought he had toyed around with this and possibly have a long litany of encounters where he has used his ability to have power over others.
'This pretty unlikely to be the first time he has done something of this nature.'
Married father-of-two Couzens burned Miss Everard's body in a refrigerator in an area of woodland he owned in Hoads Wood, near Ashford, before dumping the remains in a nearby pond.
Lord Justice Fulford, handing him a rare whole life order, spoke of the detailed planning he had carried out before he struck.
He said: 'The defendant spent at least a month travelling to London to research how best to commit these crimes
Susan Everard, Miss Everard's mother Susan, told Couzens he disgusted her and she was haunted by what he did to her daughter.
Sarah's father Jeremy, mother Susan, sister Katie and brother James are pictured arriving at the Old Bailey at a previous hearing. They confronted Couzens yesterday with heart-breaking impact statements but the cowardly killer refused to look at them from the dock.
Criminologists Professor David Wilson and Dr David Holmes both say it is unlikely that this is Couzens first major crime
'The degree of preparation and the length of time over which it extended is to be stressed.
'He bought part of the wherewithal to handcuff his victim - a police standard issue handcuff key was purchased from Amazon on 10 February and was found in the front of the Seat - self-adhesive carpet protector film was purchased on 28 February and delivered on 1 March and 14 hair bands were purchased in a shop on 3 March at 8pm.
'The protector film had been used but its precise purpose is unknown. The hairbands were either for use in order to maintain an erection or as a means of restraint. This has not been disputed.
'He hired a car on 28 February which he drove to London on 3 March. He had parked the Seat motorcar in Dover in an area where there were no houses close by, with the result that it was less likely than otherwise would have been the case that there would be witnesses to what occurred, including any signs of distress or resistance by Sarah Everard when she was transferred from the hire car to the Seat.
'He used, therefore, the hire car, as opposed to his own vehicle, to kidnap Sarah Everard. He took some of his police kit with him to London, clearly in my view for use in this offending.
'He lied to his family about working a night shift on 3 March and although he was in London that night, he avoided visiting the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command base in Lillie Road.
'Instead, he covered extensive distances in the capital, beyond doubt, as suggested by Mr Little, hunting a lone young female to kidnap and rape. It follows from this that the defendant had planned well in advance, in all its unspeakably grim detail, what was to occur and when he encountered Sarah Everard all that was missing up to that point was his victim.'
Yesterday's hearing saw the chilling moment Miss Everard was handcuffed in the back of killer cop Couzens' hire car before he drove her 80 miles to her death.
Footage taken from a passing dashcam shows the 33-year-old stood on a pavement on Poynders Road in Clapham as Couzens, who was wearing handcuffs on his police belt, speaks to her.
The twisted Met Protection Officer can be seen producing his warrant card as he claimed Miss Everard had breached Covid restrictions.
Couzens then cuffed her hands behind her back, leaving her incapable of undoing the seatbelt he strapped around her after ordering her into the back of his rental car.
She was then driven for two hours to Dover where he forcibly moved her from the hire car into his own black Seat before continuing along remote back roads to Hoad's Wood where he raped her, strangled her with his belt and stashed her body in a fridge.
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