Prosecutors claim that the London police officer who kidnapped, raped, and killed Sarah Everard in March did so by handcuffing her in a bogus arrest.
Prosecutor Tom Little said Wayne Couzens -- a serving Metropolitan police officer at the time -- handcuffed Everard and flashed her his warrant card to get her in his vehicle before driving her to Kent and killing her, The Guardian reported.
Couzens was off-duty when he physically restrained Everard, who was walking home from a friend's residence in disobedience of lockdown orders on March 3, Little disclosed.
Couzens eventually burned her body, which was found a week later in the woods outside of London. Couzens has pleaded guilty to all three crimes, the report said.
Couzens joined the police force in 2018 and most recently worked for the British parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, an armed unit in charge of securing embassies in the city and the Parliament.
Little said the police officer's actions were all "compatible with the defendant looking for, or hunting for, a lone young female to kidnap and rape, which is exactly what he did."
The killing of Everard, a 33-year old marketing executive, sparked demonstrations in London against gender-based violence and police brutality.
Due to COVID-19 instructions in effect at the time, British police officers forcibly broke up a vigil held for Everard.
When Lord Justice Fulford sentences him on Thursday at the Old Bailey, he could face a life sentence.
Activists, members of parliament, and women's rights organizations have spoken in on the details revealed in court on Wednesday.
Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women's Equality Party, said on Twitter, "This is power abuse of the greatest order. It's really terrifying."
The Metropolitan Police said it was "sickened, angry, and horrified" by the officer's actions, which "betray everything the officers stand for."
"Today, the police officer who murdered Sarah Everard is being sentenced," Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said. The information coming out of the courtroom is very terrifying, he added.
Couzens faces a possible life sentence when Lord Justice Fulford sentences him on Thursday.
