The mother-in-law of British cop Wayne Couzens has taken on the “horror” directed at her family since the officer was charged with kidnapping and murdering Sarah Everard.
Nina Sukhoreba said the Mirror that her daughter, Elena, who has been married to the London diplomatic protection officer for 15 years, was forced to remove her social media because of the avalanche of hatred.
The messages include those the Couzenses call ‘foam’, ‘evil parents’ and hope the authorities ‘take your children away’, the newspaper said.
“I am very surprised at how the Western people behaved,” Sukhoreba told the British newspaper of her home in Ukraine.
“How can they write such horrors about my family?” she asked.
In the interview, no mention was made of her speech on Everard, the 33-year-old marketing manager who was found dead after he disappeared on March 3 when she walked home from an evening out in London.
Her daughter was also arrested last week on suspicion of assisting an offender. She was placed on bail until next month and has not been charged.
“Elena is really scared,” a friend of her mother told the British newspaper. “She can not believe what’s happening.”
Couzens was arrested last Tuesday and charged with kidnapping and murder. At a court hearing on Tuesday, he was arrested for a plea trial on July 9, with a preliminary trial date for October 25.
Everard, 33, went missing on March 3 when she walked to the Brixton in south London after visiting friends in nearby Clapham. Her body was discovered a week later in the woods in Ashford, Kent, about 80 miles (80 km) away.
Her death sparked outrage in the UK, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired a special meeting on Monday night to confront security fears for British women.
“The horrific case of Sarah Everard has sparked a wave of feelings about women who do not feel safe at night,” Johnson said. “We must do everything in our power to ensure that our streets are safe.”