London: A British police officer has pleaded guilty to murdering a 33-year-old woman who was abducted as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London.

Wayne Couzens previously admitted kidnapping and raping Sarah Everard, a marketing executive who went missing on March 3. Couzens entered a guilty plea to murder on Friday, local time, during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, appearing by video link from Belmarsh high-security prison.

A major police investigation was launched after Everhard’s disappearance. Her body was found a week later in woodland more than 80 kilometres south-east of London.

The search for Everard and news of her killing caused a nationwide outcry, with women sharing experiences of being threatened, attacked or simply facing the everyday fear of violence when walking alone.

Police in the UK capital came in for criticism after some women attending a vigil for Everard were detained for breaching coronavirus restrictions.

Couzens, 48, joined London’s Metropolitan Police in 2018 and had most recently served in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, an armed unit responsible for guarding embassies in the capital and Parliament.

Prosecutor Tom Little said Couzens abducted Everard, a complete stranger, in a rented car hours after he finished a 12-hour policing shift. Her body was found in woods close to a piece of land owned by Couzens. Despite his guilty plea, prosecutors said Couzens has not revealed where he raped and killed Everard.

“We still do not know what drove him to commit this appalling crime against a stranger,” said Carolyn Oakley of the Crown Prosecution Service.