Dame Elish Angiolini

JUSTICE working party chair Sir Robert Owen has written to Dame Elish, copying in Home Secretary Priti Patel, in respect of the public inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of Ms Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving Metropolitan Police officer. 

The letter identifies the crucial importance of the full cooperation of the relevant police forces, in particular the Metropolitan Police, for the inquiry to be effective. 

However, Sir Robert highlights that previous experience gives rise to serious concerns that Dame Elish will encounter institutional defensiveness. In the absence of a statutory inquiry or a statutory duty of candour, Sir Robert calls on Dame Elish to invite interested persons to the inquiry to expressly adopt Bishop James Jones’s Charter for Families Bereaved through Public Tragedy.

In respect of part two of the inquiry, which is to address broader issues for policing and the protection of women, Sir Robert calls for Dame Elish to consider several recommendations from the JUSTICE report, including: consultation on the terms of reference and any panel for Part 2, ensuring effective participation for bereaved people and witnesses, and the potential role of the inquiry in monitoring the implementation of its recommendations to help ensure accountability and systemic change.