Following an alarming new report conducted in response to the 2021 murder of Sarah Everard, the Mirror takes a look at the life of depraved killer Wayne Couzens behind the bars of ‘Monster mansion’
On the evening of March 3, 2021, evil Wayne Couzens used his position as a Met police officer to handcuff Sarah Everard and force her into his car. She was never seen alive again.
In a crime so appalling that it sparked protests across the country, 33-year-old Sarah was raped and murdered by Couzens, who had already been accused of a serious sexual assault on a child before beginning his policing career. The married father of two, who had driven marketing executive Sarah from South London to Kent, then burned her remains before discarding them in a woodland, meaning her devastated family didn’t even have the chance to look upon her face one last time.
The horrifying case brought the issue of violence against women to the forefront, but, more than four years on, an alarming new report has found that “too many” offenders are slipping through the cracks as a result of a “critical failure” to record crime. Lady Elish Angilolini, who is leading an inquiry established following Sarah’s murder, found that many sexual predators are still getting away with their crimes, and that schemes created to prevent them are often “just words”..
Couzens, 52, is now locked up at the infamous HMP Frankland in Durham, aka ‘Monster Mansion’, where updates on his grim life have continued to spark outrage and contempt.
READ MORE: Alarming report finds huge police failings following Sarah Everard murder
Xbox whinge
In March 2022, The Sun reported that Couzens had been permitted to buy an Xbox 360 as a reward for good behaviour, only to whinge when he learned he wouldn’t be allowed to play violent shooting games. The source claimed: “He was cock a hoop at getting the console, but very disappointed he couldn’t order the violent 18-rated games. That means he cannot sit in his cell playing Call of Duty and Gears of War. He was moaning about that and will have to content himself with things like the motorsport and fantasy games.
“It is probably best for him that he stays in his cell away from all the other cons anyway. But it is pretty sick that he wanted to play the shooter games, given the fact he was obsessed with guns before he killed Sarah.”
‘Morgue Monster’ friendship
In April 2022, the Mirror exclusively reported that Couzens had struck up a stomach-churning prison friendship with “Morgue Monster” David Fuller, who defiled the bodies of more than 100 dead women. A source told us how the pair bonded after being locked up on the same wing of HMP Frankland, revealing, “We call them The Odd Couple.”
As well as both being depraved criminals, Couzens and Fuller apparently have other things in common, including being from Kent, and reportedly enjoy chatting together. Our source shared: “They know some of the same areas from back in the day. The idea of them swapping stories turns my stomach.”
Former electrician Fuller was banged up for killing Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, back in 1987. He was finally caught for the so-called “bedsit murders” 33 years after committing the crimes, thanks to advances in DNA technology. Fuller, who recorded sickening footage of himself defiling dozens of bodies between 2008 and 2020, was handed two life sentences for the killings plus a further 12 years for abusing corpses at the Kent hospital where he’d once worked.
Birthday present complaint
In April 2024, the Mail Online reported that Couzens made a formal complaint after authorities blocked the delivery of a gift from his mother, intended to mark his 50th birthday. The incident, which occurred in December 2022, saw Couzens rage over not being allowed the parcel, which contained a book and some clothes, as per standard policy that forbade inmates from receiving parcels sent from home.
In a complaint made to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Couzens reportedly moaned that these rules had not been explained to him properly, meaning he and his family didn’t know that he was not allowed gifts from home. Arguing that his mother had been left out of pocket, the convicted rapist and murderer even went as far as to suggest that she be financially compensated.
A source told the publication: “It might seem incredible after his case horrified the country – how he took advantage of his police status to target, deceive, rape and murder poor Sarah – that Wayne Couzens was doing this. But that’s exactly what happened – just a year on from getting his life term, he was writing busybody letters of complaint about not getting a birthday present. The whole episode was unbelievable.”
‘Bounty on head’
In March, reformed prisoner Ricky Killeen spoke with the Mail Online about how Couzens will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars looking over his shoulder, especially given his former career in the police. Killeen, who served five years at Frankland for his part in a machete attack, shared: “Obviously, they become number one targets because people in prison don’t like police officers anyway, and if they get incarcerated with officers, they are going to come under attack. If it is a high-security prison, the violence is likely to be extreme. They will either get slashed, they will get stabbed in the neck, they will try to take their eyes out, they will chuck boiling hot oil over them or use a boiling hot kettle full of sugar.”
Grim stories have previously emerged from behind Frankland’s notorious walls, including attacks on prisoners and guards alike. One incident saw an inmate suffer bad burns to the head after he was assaulted with a mixture of boiling water and melted butter, a makeshift weapon known as “swilling”, which is intended to deepen painful burns. On other occasions, weapons have been crafted using objects such as a broken DVD player and a shattered ceramic toilet pan.
It’s thought that Couzens could be even more at risk of such attacks, with a prison source telling the publication: ‘To be a police officer in a Cat A prison would make you a target, but to be such a high-profile prisoner means there is zero chance that you can be on a normal wing. He will have a bounty on his head. Couzens will be serving out his life sentence in segregation. His is a face that everyone knows – and his notoriety won’t diminish over time. He will be on a small, vulnerable prisoners’ wing, kept far from the main population at all times, where there are lower levels of association.”
Lumbar operation
In June, it was reported that Couzens had been transported to an NHS hospital to undergo a lumbar procedure, a spinal operation which costs the NHS approximately £7,000. The cost of moving Couzens, who was taken from Frankland in a bulletproof van accompanied by a high-security escort, was estimated to be £10,000, sparking outrage from Labour’s MP for North Durham, Luke Akehurst, who expressed concerns that the killer was able to skip the waiting list for the ‘spinal tap’, which usually has an 18-week waiting time for NHS patients.
Mr Akehurst told The Sun: “I would be disgusted if it turns out that this vile rapist and murderer was able to jump the queue in front of decent law-abiding people to get his treatment.” He added: “The cost of the security surrounding his time in hospital is an appalling waste of public money.”
It’s said that Couzens spent three days at the hospital before being transferred to Frankland’s healthcare unit, while a source has also told the publication that this was a non-emergency procedure, intended “to make him comfortable”. The source said: “People are angry at how he was treated — and how much effort the authorities went to, as well as how much it cost. Couzens is constantly moaning in jail and had been complaining about back pain, so was assessed in healthcare at the prison.“
“The security operation to get him to and from the hospital would have easily run to more than £10,000. He was taken straight from his cell into a Category A van, which is bulletproof, with a custody manager and at least four prison officers. While he was at the hospital, armed police would have been on guard. Couzens was classed as a ‘high-risk escort’ — not because he poses a danger but because of the danger to him from the public.”
“He is recognisable and reviled, so they do not take chances. He would have been treated on a ward — but in his own room — to keep him away from people. The prison and NHS have a duty of care to him, like they do with everyone. But this was apparently not even an emergency procedure and was basically done to relieve pressure on him and make him comfortable.”
Family house for sale
Back in August, it was reported that Couzen’s family home, in Deal, Kent, where he’d lived wife Olena and their two children for five years prior to his 2021 arrest, was once again on the market. The three-bedroom house was initially listed earlier this year for £300,000, but failed to sell. The second time around, the price was reduced to £280,000. Estate agents have described the property as an “ideal terraced family house”, which boasts “three double bedrooms and ample living space”.
According to the Rightmove listing: “The rear garden is a great size and overlooks fields behind. To the front, there is a blocked paved driveway and garage. The property has been well cared for and has a modern kitchen, bathroom, and log burner.” While the hot tub Couzens had constructed is not highlighted, photographs of the back garden show a timber surround structure for the outdoor tub.
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