A police officer accused of kidnapping and murdering Sarah Everard has been told he will go on trial in October. PC Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from Belmarsh prison. The serving Metropolitan police officer is accused over the disappearance and death of the 33-year-old marketing executive. She was last seen on 3 March, as she walked from her friends place to her home in south London, a journey of two and a half miles. Her body was found in a builder’s bag in woodland in Ashford, Kent on 10 March. It was identified via dental records. Judge Mark Lucraft QC, sitting at the Old Bailey in central London, scheduled the trial for 25 October. Couzens, wearing a maroon sweatshirt and grey bottoms, listened at the 20-minute hearing, speaking only to confirm his name and date of birth. On the centre of his forehead was a scab from a wound. A postmortem has taken place but no cause of death has been given. Prosecutor Tom Little QC said the evidence that the crown would present in the case followed a “wide-ranging investigation” by police. Couzens joined the Met in 2018, and was attached to an armed unit responsible for guarding the parliamentary estate and embassies in London. His main job is to patrol diplomatic buildings. Couzens was arrested last Tuesday at his home in Deal in Kent, first on suspicion of kidnap. The next day, while in police custody he was arrested on suspicion of murder. On Friday he was charged with the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard following a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service, which decides on whether the evidence gathered by police merits the bringing of criminal charges.