Sarah Everard’s murder by PC Wayne Couzens must be national watershed – The Yorkshire Post says

They’re with all those women who are still too frightened to walk the streets despite the knowledge that Wayne Couzens will die behind bars after being handed a whole life sentence by Lord Justice Fulford who made specific reference to how the defendant abused his position of authority.

Sarah Everard’s family say knowing Wayne Couzens ‘will be imprisoned forever brings some relief’

And they’re also with the nation’s police, the very people who sprint towards danger while others run away from it, who are equally revulsed by the indescribable depravity of Couzens and how this evil monster besmirched their profession and eroded public trust.

Wayne Couzens: Sarah Everard killer to die in pison after being handed whole life sentence for her kidnap and murder

Yet, while the Old Bailey judge did praise the handling of this heinous crime, there are, nevertheless, important lessons that both the police need to embrace following the murder of Sarah whose family come from York, the more recent death of teacher Sabina Neesa and a long list of other cases that, to our collective shame, have not received the attention that the victims, and their families, deserve.

West Yorkshire MP Yvette Cooper, chair of Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee, makes a profound point with her call for an independent inquiry “into violence against women and girls within the police service itself” – and how alleged offences are investigated.

But belated overhauls of procedure also demand societal change so women – whatever the circumstances – no longer feel demeaned, intimidated or threatened by men. And it needs an acceptance that everyone has a part to play in sparing others from the life sentence facing the Everard family after the indescribable loss of their beloved Sarah.

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