The Angiolini inquiry and a new report on Hillsborough make the need for new laws and higher standards in police forces brutally clear
The abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer in 2021 caused an outpouring of grief, fear and rage. The reaction was compounded when it emerged that Wayne Couzens, who is serving a whole-life term in prison, had previously committed sexual offences that the police had ignored.
In her latest report on these events, Lady Angiolini frames sexually motivated crimes against women in public places as a “whole-society problem”. She exposes a shocking lack of action on earlier recommendations and reveals that basic facts, such as how many women each year are sexually assaulted or raped in public in England or Wales, are not in any single dataset.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
