Revealed: How Wayne Couzens joked about rape in horrific WhatsApp messages with colleagues
Messages from two years before murder of Sarah Everard show comments about sexually assaulting women
WhatsApp messages which show Wayne Couzens joking about rape with other Metropolitan Police officers before the murder of Sarah Everard have been revealed for the first time.
During 2019, two years before the killing, Couzens repeatedly talked about sexually assaulting women, including victims of domestic abuse.
He also made racist remarks about areas of London and joined in with jokes targeting non-white colleagues.
His vile posts were initially kept secret because of an ongoing flashing case, but the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has now released the posts after he was sentenced for crimes.
Two of the group chat participants, Jonathon Cobban and Joel Borders, were jailed for “grossly offensive messages” in November, and they were among six officers sacked over membership of the group.
The posts were discovered in a WhatsApp group called “Bottle and Stoppers/Atkin’s Puppets” after Couzens was arrested for kidnapping, raping and murdering Sarah Everard in March 2021.
All officers in the group had previously worked for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) before transferring into Metropolitan Police, where they were serving at the time the messages were sent
A report published by the IOPC on Monday said the WhatsApp group was used “in part, as a way for the officers to talk to each other during their Met training”, with conversations on exams and qualifications.
But it also contained “inappropriate messages related to rape, sexual offences and victims of crime”, racist remarks and “comments about committing serious acts of violence and sexual assault”.
These are the published messages sent by Couzens:
22 February 2019
Wayne Couzens: Messy one, lovely. Remember Forster, it's got to be consensual!
Matthew Forster: They’ve only got to say yes once
21 March 2019:
After Jonathon Cobban describes responding, while on duty, to an unconscious woman who had been drinking.
Wayne Couzens: Did you [perform sex act on] her to see if she was ok?
Jonathon Cobban: I considered it. But she was a right old lump. So I just raped a bystander instead.
21 June 2019:
Wayne Couzens: Mate they aren’t gonna ditch you with your skill sets, unless you [perform a sex act on] a DV [domestic violence] victim! Oh, Jon in that case you’re probably f***ed.
Jonathan Cobban: That’s alright, DV victims love it... that’s why they are repeat victims more often than not.
Joel Borders: No, they just don’t listen!
29 June 2019:
During a discussion with other officers about racially diverse areas of London, described as ‘s***holes’.
Joel Borders: You know when it’s getting near to the end of night shift in Hounslow because you can hear the call to prayer.
Wayne Couzens: You can add Peckham to that list. I was on VCTF [Violent Crime Task Force] the other shift in Peckham, another Somalia village!!!!
A spokesperson for the IOPC said it did not formally investigate Couzens for potential misconduct over the mesages, “due to the criminal proceedings he was already facing relating to the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard”.
“As a result of reporting restrictions having ceased following the completion of criminal proceedings against Wayne Couzens, we can now mention the link to Couzens in our published report,” a statement added.
The watchdog also investigated the handling of flashing by Couzens in the years before he murdered Ms Everard, and will publish a full report after disciplinary hearings for Metropolitan Police and Kent Police officers accused of breaching standards.