The dark corners of the UK’s police inhabited by prolific offenders such as Wayne Couzens have been the subject of radical overhaul attempts ever since the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
Couzens served in some of Britain’s most prestigious armed policing units – from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) to the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit (PADP), where officers guard nuclear assets, Parliament and diplomatic locations.
After his horrific crimes were revealed, it was unearthed that he had committed a raft of previous offences including indecent exposure that colleagues – who nicknamed Couzens ‘the rapist’ – failed to investigate.
Probes into the units revealed a hidden underbelly – made up of a minority of officers – which hid some of the worst offending in recent times.
Since Couzens’ conviction for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah in March 2021, the Met has been forced to conduct a radical overhaul of the PADP and police forces across the country have imposed new measures to catch misconduct.
Here MailOnline takes a look inside the last four years at elite units where misconduct ran rife – and reveals the officers sacked.
