Home Secretary appoints Chair to Sarah Everard inquiry

• Rt Hon Dame Elish Angiolini QC will lead a two-part inquiry to address the issues raised by the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard

Home Secretary Priti Patel has appointed former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini to chair an inquiry following the shocking abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer.

The Angiolini Inquiry will be a two-part inquiry and will investigate the issues arising from this specific case, as well as wider issues affecting policing.

Dame Elish has been appointed following consultation with the family of Sarah Everard, who willalso be kept updated throughout the work of the inquiry. She brings an extensive legal background and has chaired several inquiries into issues related to policing and the criminal justice system.

The Home Secretary will work with Dame Elish to finalise the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will be published in due course. The appointment and high level terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary in Parliament today (Monday 22 November).

Home Secretary Priti Patel said:

“Sarah Everard’s abduction, rape and murder was an unimaginable tragedy – we owe it to her and her loved ones to quickly understand what went wrong and prevent something like this ever happening again.

“The Angiolini Inquiry will shine a light on the failings that allowed a serving police officer to abuse his power in such a horrific manner and make recommendations for change within policing.

“Dame Elish will bring a wealth of legal and criminal justice expertise to this role and I am delighted she has agreed to chair the Inquiry.”

Dame Elish Angiolini said:

“I am deeply honoured to have been asked to chair this vital inquiry, which comes at a pivotal moment for policing.

“The murder of Sarah Everard was profoundly shocking and I will ensure that the issues raised from this dreadful tragedy are fully investigated and the necessary lessons learned.”

The Home Secretary announced last month that a non-statutory inquiry would be launched following the conviction of Wayne Couzens.

The inquiry will be non-statutory to allow for it to be established and operate as swiftly and flexibly as possible. However, the Home Secretary has been clear that should the chair require it, the option remains to convert it to a statutory inquiry.

It will be made up of two parts. The first will establish a comprehensive account of Couzens’ conduct throughout his career in policing, including looking for whether any red flags were missed and whether allegations made against him were properly handled.

It will draw on ongoing investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The second part of the inquiry will look at specific issues raised by part one, which will report to the Home Secretary as soon as possible. A more precise timetable will be set out once the Terms of Reference are published.

Dame Elish currently serves as Principal at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford. Previously, she was Solicitor General for Scotland from 2001 to 2006 and served as Lord Advocate of Scotland between 2006-2011.

She led a review commissioned by the then-Home Secretary Theresa May into deaths in police custody, which published a report in 2017. Dame Elish also recently led a review into police complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues in Police Scotland, the final report of which was published in November 2020.

HOME SECRETARY STATEMENT AS DELIVERED TO PARLIAMENT

Mr Speaker, the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer was devastating.

I am launching an independent Inquiry into exactly what happened, and I am pleased to confirm today to the House that the Rt Hon Dame Elish Angiolini QC has agreed to be the Chair of this enquiry.

Dame Elish is an exceptionally distinguished lawyer, academic and public servant.

Her extensive experience includes a review of deaths in police custody, as well as a review for the Scottish government of the handling of complaints and alleged misconduct against police officers.

This Inquiry, Mr Speaker, will be made up of two parts.

Part One will examine how this monster was able to serve as a police officer for so long and seek to establish a definitive account of his conduct.

The independent police inspectorate is already looking at vetting and counter-corruption capability which will enable the Inquiry to examine vetting and re-vetting procedures in detail, including his transfers between forces.

Part One will also seek to understand the extent to which his behaviour rang alarm bells with his colleagues.

The Chair will also report to me as soon as is it practical.

The Home Office will then publish the report and then I will set out the Terms of Reference for Part Two, which will consider the broader implications of policing arising from Part One.

The Inquiry, Mr Speaker, will begin as a non-statutory inquiry because I want to give Sarah’s family closure as quickly as possible.

As members know, statutory inquiries can be long-running, with limited flexibility. Sometimes recommendations are not made for a number of years.

However, I will not rule out converting this into a statutory footing, should Dame Elish feel that she is unable to fulfil the Terms of Reference on a non-statutory basis.

Sarah Everard’s life was ended too early by an evil man whose job it was to protect her.

We owe it to her and to her loved ones and her family to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

ENDS