Government accepts all recommendations from Angiolini Inquiry

The Government has announced that it accepted all the recommendations made by the Angiolini Inquiry.

The Angiolini Inquiry was commissioned to investigate the circumstances and failures that led to the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021 by a serving police officer.

The Angiolini report found that there were several opportunities to stop Wayne Couzens missed by multiple police forces. It also called for an overhaul of police vetting and recruitment.

The government has accepted recommendations to conduct a fundamental review of the way masturbatory indecent exposure is treated within the criminal justice system; commission research to establish if there is an evidence-based link between active masturbatory indecent exposure and subsequent contact offending; and launch a public campaign to raise awareness that indecent exposure and sending unsolicited photographs of genitals amounts to criminality and boost victims’ confidence to report such crimes.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and College of Policing has also committed to addressing the remaining recommendations in the report concerning police culture and increasing the robustness of police vetting.

Home secretary James Cleverly said: "Sarah’s murder was sickening and, tragically, avoidable. She was fundamentally failed by the institutions which were meant to keep her safe.

"Since her death, huge strides have already been taken to root out officers not fit to wear the badge and bolster safeguards to prevent the wrong people joining the force.

"Now we will work with policing partners to understand the link between indecent exposure and an escalation in behaviour to ensure the right measures are in place to catch more criminals, earlier."

Minister for victims and safeguarding, Laura Farris said: "Sarah Everard’s murder shocked the nation, devastated her loved ones and has profound implications for the future of policing. The Angiolini Inquiry comprehensively reviewed the facts and circumstances that contributed to Wayne Couzens’ offending and we are grateful to her for her work.

"We have already made a series of significant changes to police vetting, disciplinary and dismissal procedures.  But we accept her further recommendations on non-contact offences and the escalatory risk that they may pose.

"We are determined to leave no stone unturned in preventing an offence of this kind from ever happening again."

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