An indecent exposure allegation that Sarah Everard murder suspect Wayne Couzens has also been arrested over was reported to police four days before she vanished.
Couzens, 48, was arrested late on Tuesday on suspicion of the kidnap and murder of marketing executive Miss Everard, 33, and indecent exposure to a second unnamed victim.
The Metropolitan Police tonight confirmed an investigation has been launched into whether officers responded ‘appropriately’ to the report of indecent exposure, which was received by Scotland Yard four days before Sarah vanished.
Couzens is alleged to have exposed himself at a fast food restaurant in south London on February 28.
The force made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), who have determined the matter will be subject to an independent probe.
The Met arrested one of its own officers, Wayne Couzens (left), on suspicion of murder and kidnap
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick confirmed human remains have been found in the week-long search for 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard but have yet to formally confirm that it is her
The Met also made a mandatory referral to the IOPC after Couzens was today rushed to hospital for treatment after he sustained a head injury while in a cell alone.
A statement added the suspect was being monitored by CCTV at the time, and had received immediate first aid after being found unconscious in Wandsworth Police Station.
It is understood he was taken to Accident and Emergency at St George’s Hospital in Tooting at around 8pm yesterday before being returned to custody.
Police have refused to comment on whether or not the injuries were self-inflicted, but Met sources said it is not expected any arrests will be made.
‘The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has started an independent investigation into whether Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers responded appropriately to a report of indecent exposure,’ it said.
‘The IOPC’s investigation follows a conduct referral from the MPS in relation to two officers, received last night, which is linked to four other referrals.
‘They are all connected to the arrest of a serving MPS officer on suspicion of kidnap, murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure.
‘Our investigation will look at the actions of the MPS after police received a report on February 28 that a man had exposed himself at a fast food restaurant in South London.
MailOnline has pieced together Sarah’s final movements as it was claimed that Couzens was working at the US Embassy on the day she vanished
Police forensic officers visit the home the home of prime suspect Wayne Couzens today as the investigation continues
A private ambulance at the scene of Hoad’s Wood near Ashford in Kent this afternoon as the investigation continues
Police officers and private ambulance workers at the scene of the 500-acre Hoad’s Wood near Ashford this afternoon
‘Yesterday we determined that two conduct referrals relating to kidnap/murder and indecent exposure allegations against the arrested officer should remain under local investigation by the force.
‘We are still assessing a mandatory referral in relation to the actions of police after they received a report that Sarah Everard was missing.
‘A fifth mandatory referral was received from the MPS today in relation to police contact with the arrested officer who was treated in hospital after sustaining a head injury while in custody yesterday afternoon.
‘That referral is also being assessed to determine what further action may be required from us.’
Police search woodland in Ashford near Kent today (pictured) where human remains were found. Officers say they are not yet able to say if the remains are Sarah Everard’s
Police have today expanded their presence at the site in Ashford where human remains were found last night, including a mobile HQ (pictured being dropped into place) and a diving unit
A Metropolitan Police van and a private ambulance at the scene of the woods near Ashford in Kent this afternoon
Couzens tonight remains in custody at a London police station after an application to extend his detention was granted at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.
A woman in her 30s, who was arrested at the same time on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April.
The latest development in the case comes after a source claimed Couzens was watched for days by armed undercover detectives while he worked at the US Embassy.
The insider told MailOnline that Couzens is believed to have been allowed to keep his gun ‘in case he twigged’.
Couzens tonight remains in custody at a London police station after an application to extend his detention was granted at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court
Officers from the Metropolitan Police laid flowers at the gates of the disused golf course and sports centre close to the woodland where remains feared to be Sarah’s have been found
Scotland Yard appears to have kept Couzens on armed duties protecting politicians and VIPs at President Biden’s UK diplomatic HQ near Battersea Power station despite him becoming the prime suspect in the murder case.
An insider has claimed this could be the first time an armed surveillance team has monitored one of the Met’s own armed officers.
Today it was claimed that Couzens worked a 2pm to 8pm shift at the US embassy on the day his alleged victim vanished ‘into thin air’.
The building he was guarding is less than three miles from where Miss Everard was last seen at 9.30pm as she walked home to Brixton on March 3.
The US Embassy has tonight refused to comment on the claim, telling MailOnline: ‘We were shocked and saddened to hear the news of Sarah Everard’s disappearance. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this difficult time.
‘We do not comment on issues related to Embassy security.’
Police sources have suggested that plain clothes detectives may have been secretly monitoring the suspect’s movements for days before he was arrested at home in Deal, Kent, just before midnight on Tuesday.
The Met declined to comment on the claims their detectives placed one of their own firearms officers under surveillance while he was still on armed duties.
But a police source told MailOnline that detectives watching him may have kept the murder suspect on normal duties in case it led them to Sarah.
‘From the moment the suspect was identified he would have been under constant physical and electronic surveillance as the risk of allowing him to commit further offences would have been too great’, the insider said.
‘There is also the possibility that police – initially at least – may still have believed that he could have led them to the location of Sarah Everard if she were still alive or otherwise.
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed last night that human remains were found in the week-long search for Miss Everard in woodland near Ashford, but in more heartbreak for her family she said identification may take ‘considerable time’ – a strong hint that the body found is in a very poor state.
Met Police operations will continue at the woods and in Deal for the rest of the week.
A Kent Police spokesman said: ‘Over the next few days, the Met Police will continue to carry out activities across the area whilst their enquiries progress.’
Two officers in an unmarked Land Rover were said to have been watching the house Couzens shares with his wife in Deal, Kent, for two hours before 20 police sprinted in from around the corner to arrest him six days after his alleged victim vanished.
The case has prompted the possibility that perhaps for the first time in the Met’s history, armed surveillance officers were watching one of their own firearms officers while he was on duty guarding one of the most important building’s in London.
An insider said: ‘There are two possible approaches the Met could have taken when the officer emerged as the main suspect.
‘They could have changed his duties slightly and given him a role in which he would not have been required to use a firearm.
‘However, there is a risk that he could have twigged that something was up.
‘Another option, therefore, would be to maintain his normal duties whilst having an armed capacity on the surveillance team watching him.
‘This means that some of those officers could have been armed for his and other’s safety.
‘As far as I know, that would be a first – having an armed surveillance team monitoring one of the Met’s own armed officers. But this is an extraordinary case.’
Police had swooped over something they saw on CCTV on a London bus that passed Sarah as she walked towards Brixton, according to the Daily Telegraph, who said he was working in the hours before his arrest.
A car linked to Couzens – thought to be a hire vehicle – was reportedly picked up on a motorist’s dashcam near to the spot where Sarah disappeared last Wednesday.
One source told MailOnline: ‘If they identified his car from the bus, they will have been able to see him driving all the way home on London and Highways England’s network of cameras. If she was in the car, they will have footage of him with her’.
Detectives are also probing whether the suspect used his warrant card to lure her into his car after leaving work guarding the nearby US Embassy, it emerged today.