Ministers committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this year. An inquiry into how a serving metropolitan Police Officer was able to abduct and kill Sarah Everard has concluded he remained on the force because of failures in recruitment and vetting. The inquiry said red flags were missed at the three Different Police forces where Wayne Couzens served over several years. He was off duty when he kidnapped the 33 year old in march 2021. He is now serving a whole Life Sentence for rape and murder. Her killing by a serving Police Officer prompted a widespread outpouring of anger and grief and sparked demonstrations over concern for the safety of women. The chair of the inquiry said that without a radical overhaul of Police Vetting and recruitment there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight. We are expecting the full Police Response shortly but we have heard an Opening Statement from Chief ConstableGavin Stevens who said the harrowing murder of Sarah Everard carried out by a serving Police Officer has caused untold suffering. Wayne couzens should never have been a Police Officer and this should never have happened. We are reviewing the recommendations and i do not underestimate how important this is for all of society and he said he cant express to the family of Sarah Everard how sorry they are and he went on to say i want to apologise to any woman or girl who has fallen to abuse from a Police Officer. This is a glowing red signal to all Police Officers. The report makes clear we have a lot to do and we collectively will not stop until the public especially women and girls get the policing they deserve and confidence in our role as protectors is rebuilt. Now an update on what was in the report with june kelly. He was a predatory sex offender in a police uniform, a criminal with state sanctioned powers. Wayne couzens should never have been allowed to become a Police Officer and Continualflawed Vetting meant he was able to stay in his role, despite a series of red flags. These are among the stark conclusions of todays inquiry report into couzens. It examined his career, his behaviour and the way he was vetted. The metropolitan Police Service told the inquiry in 2022 that they would still have recruited him if provided with the same information. Ifind this astonishing. Now is a time for change. Without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight. The report describes how in 2004 and 2008, kent police turned down couzens application to join, but allowed him to work as a special constable. In 2011, another force, the Civil Nuclear constabulary, took him on as a full time officer, despite a recommendation that he should not get through the vetting because of his heavy debts. In 2018, he successfully applied to join the metropolitan police. Here, the report found the vetting was flawed. An Indecent Exposure allegation was one of the concerns about him which was on the system, but appeared to be missed. There are no words i can use that can adequately express to the Everard Familyjust how sorry we are across the whole of policing. I was left aghast at the catalogue of missed opportunities, errors, red flags, to stop Wayne Couzens. The report describes how Wayne Couzens used his Police Powers to falsely arrest Sarah Everard on a Street In Clapham in south london during the covid lockdown in 2021. Here, Showing Sarah his warrant card and accusing her of breaching lockdown rules. Couzens then drove sarah 80 miles to kent, where he raped and strangled her. A week after sarahs disappearance, Wayne Couzens was arrested. Described as a man of diverse and deviant sexual interests, he allegedly committed a very serious Sexual Assault against a child, barely in her teens, before he joined the police. At a mcdonalds Drive Through in the days before he abducted sarah, he indecently exposed himself to staff more than once. He is also alleged to have possessed indecent images of children. The coming days will see the third anniversary of Sarah Everards death. In the report, herfamily welcome its recommendations. They say the loss of sarah pervades every part of their lives. June kelly, bbc news. We can now hear more from the Inquiry Chair. We can now hear more from the Inquiry Chair we can now hear more from the Inquiry Chair. The murder shocked the nation and Inquiry Chair. The murder shocked the nation and triggered Inquiry Chair. The murder shocked the nation and triggered a Inquiry Chair. The murder shocked l the nation and triggered a discourse about Public Safety in Public Places and also looked at Police Misconduct where Police Officers used their powers to commit Sexual Offences. What is already clear is how much damage Wayne Couzens has done to the social contract in which policing is based and significant improvements are required. Failures in investigations into allegations of Indecent Exposure meant opportunities to disrupt his offending and bring his Policing Career to a halt were missed. It is clear that Wayne Couzens carefully managed the impression he gave people of himself and this is in included. It also included the way he shared his callous views towards women. Only a very small group of like minded people on a social media group. This all enabled him to target Vulnerable Women while operating in plain sight as an apparently unremarkable officer. However, the fact remains that three separate Police Forces allowed him the privilege of being a Police Officer when they could and should have stopped him. Wayne couzens is a predatory sex offender and murderer. Evidence of his alleged offending, his preference for extreme and violent pornography and his unmanaged debts date back nearly 20 years prior to sarahs murder. The report explores this in detail, but i will draw your attention to some of the major red flags and missed opportunities to halt his career and bring him tojustice. The inquiry has seen evidence that couzens allegedly committed a very serious Sexual Assault against a child barely in her teens before his Policing Career even started. Problems with money also predated his career with the police. Couzens had substantial Unsecured Debt by the time he was arrested for sarahs murder. At the same time, the metropolitan Police Service were taking action to recover up to £15,000 that had been paid to him in error. And a year long mortgage holiday was about to expire that month. These pressures undoubtedly affected his ability to serve as an Authorised Firearms Officer at that time. Ive seen evidence of couzens diverse and deviant sexual interests and understand these to be potential drivers for his offending. It is alleged that in a number of occasions he tried to show friends and colleagues pornography, including some of a violent and extreme nature. Xjames x Ja Mes Cleverly XJames Cleverly the xJames Cleverly the home secretary says the report is distressing but very important. Says the report is distressing but very important says the report is distressing but very important. Tragically he was allowed to serve very important. Tragically he was allowed to serve as very important. Tragically he was allowed to serve as a very important. Tragically he was allowed to serve as a release very important. Tragically he was allowed to serve as a release of. Very important. Tragically he was i allowed to serve as a release of us and were still there were multiple occasions where the shed, could have been recognised, where this should, could have been recognised. He was able to serve in a range of privileged roles including as a Firearms Officer. It is appalling that reports of Indecent Exposure by couzens were not taken sufficiently seriously by the police and that officers were not adequately trained, equipped or motivated to properly investigate those allegations. A former inspector of constabulary shared her reaction. A former inspector of constabulary shared her reaction. Mark rowley has made it a pledge shared her reaction. Mark rowley has made it a pledge on shared her reaction. Mark rowley has made it a pledge on his shared her reaction. Mark rowley has made it a pledge on his appointment| made it a pledge on his appointment that he will root out auditory Police Officers and we see that manifesting itself in three Police Officers per week being in courts because of the infrastructure that has been put in place to make sure that Police Officers who have a history of sexual offending and who have other proclivities which means there is no place for them in policing are being identified and brought to justice policing are being identified and brought tojustice and policing are being identified and brought to justice and are going to the Police Disciplinary process, and being removed from policing and taken away from the front line. That has to happen, doesnt it, because without that happening, women in london in particular are not going to trust the police. That has catastrophic consequences, it will mean that the public dont come forward to the police, when they are either victims or witnesses. There is a danger that the whole fabric of Law And Order could break down. Until we put people through measures in policing, that you would expect in most normal walks of life, until we are checking on peoples background, looking at their social media, doing face to face interviews in order to appointjobs, when we undertake vetting, making sure that we visit Police Officers homes. For goodness sake, if you were adopting a stray puppy, people come and visit your home. The idea that someone wouldnt come and check you out if you are about to become a Police Officer, with all of the powers, that that entails, it is unthinkable. As i say, Police Leaders in england and wales have absolutely no option but to respond rapidly and at pace to these fairly straight recommendations that will cost additional money, but are absolutely necessary if we are to restore public trust in policing right now. Fresh insight on the worsening Housing Crisis in england. The number of Housing Crisis in england. The number of families living in temporary accommodation has hit a record high including more than hundred and 40,000 children. The number of rough sleepers is also up with more than 4000 people on the streets on a single night last autumn, up 27 on the previous year. The increase comes despite the government vowing to end rough sleeping by the end of this year. For some people at Londons Paddington station, their train never departs. As many as 60 sleep in the station each night. Here is, like, the warmest part of the station, really, that you can sleep in. Thats why youve got most of the people sleeping here, because its the warmest part. Joseph has been rough sleeping since last year, the last few nights at paddington. His entire possessions in one bag. If you can get a clear space, then you are good, but apart from that theyve got these railings, stuck in between, so its not ideally comfortable. The people here are part of a surge in rough sleeping across england, up 27 on last year. Most are uk nationals, like 66 year old rita, who says she was scammed in france and returned home penniless. We try to find a seat before someone else takes it. And then, you know, weve been lucky, we have now some sleeping bag. Before we didnt have. Up until october we didnt have any sleeping bag. I sleep around half past midnight and i wake up about half past three or four. So three or four hours a night, for six months . Yeah, yeah. Its very hard. Ministers say they are spending over half a billion tackling rough sleeping, but some councils say the problem has worsened since the official data was collected last autumn. This is manchester town hall, where up to 80 people a night have been sleeping in recent weeks. They are mainly refugees a consequence of government efforts to tackle the immigration backlog. The people here are mainly from sudan, eritrea and ethiopia. All of them tell a familiar tale, of being allowed to remain in the United Kingdom but told to leave their home office provided accommodation, and unable to find anywhere else to stay theyve ended up on the streets of manchester. This iranian woman, who wants to remain anonymous, has been rough sleeping for 15 days. What do the council say to you about getting a property . They told me that im not their priority because i have no children and im not in the hospital. Many of manchesters rough sleepers come to the booth centre for food, warmth and advice. What they cant provide is accommodation. Theres simply not enough Affordable Homes in the city, or indeed the country. Michael buchanan, bbc news. The issue of Assisted Dying is one that causes debate. The uk government is being urged to take an active role, in the debate on Assisted Dying, withjersey and the isle of man, now considering its legalisation. It has been called the last taboo, we try not to think about death, but we try not to think about death, but we are all going to die. 18 we try not to think about death, but we are all going to die. We are all going to die. 18 years aro we are all going to die. 18 years ago esther we are all going to die. 18 years ago Esther Rantzen we are all going to die. 18 years ago Esther Rantzen made we are all going to die. 18 years ago Esther Rantzen made a we are all going to die. 18 yearsj ago Esther Rantzen made a bbc documentary called how to have a good death. Now, undergoing treatment for terminal lung cancer, she believes that how and when her life ends should be her decision. If we can get this over and decided and if every party would put this in their manifesto, that we will hold a debate and have a free vote, the rest of us can have a choice also about the way we want to end our lives, this would be an ideal step, and even in difficult circumstances where we dont want our Family Memories to be overwhelmed by the memory of us in pain and suffering. Theres a word that those campaigning for a change in the law on Assisted Dying keep coming back to choice. I have a very narrow choice. If i want to end my life in my own way, in my own time, then perhaps i have to go to dignitas in switzerland and perhaps i have to leave my family, my closest loved ones behind. Because if they go with me, they could be accused of conspiring to bring about my death. Within families, there will be conflicts, wont there . Have you experienced that yourself or has everybody sort of thought, well, you know, mum knows best . No, nobody thinks i know best in my family but what they certainly think is we should all have the choice. Shes renowned for being forthright, a straight talker. Death is a Taboo Subject for many, but not for dame esther. In the end, i shall drop off my perch. I do come to that conclusion. I have worked out that that is likely to be the way i go. How i go, well, its up to others, isnt it . But you think obviously that should be your decision . Well, at the moment its not. Hopefully one day it will be. May not be in time for me, but lets hope in time for others. Shes adamant that any law change must include safeguard