Wayne Couzens, 48, was a serving London officer when he kidnapped Everard, 33, as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on 3 March.
The Old Bailey court heard Couzens used his position to stop Everard on the street, falsely arresting her on the pretence of breaching coronavirus restrictions and forcing her into a hire car.
Her body was found in woodland in southeast England on 11 March.
Everard’s family released a statement saying they are “very pleased” that Couzens’ whole-life sentence means he will spend the rest of his life in jail with no chance of parole.
“Nothing can make things better, nothing can bring Sarah back, but knowing he will be imprisoned forever brings some relief,” the statement read.
“Sarah lost her life needlessly and cruelly and all the years of life she had yet to enjoy were stolen from her.
“Wayne Couzens held a position of trust as a police officer and we are outraged and sickened that he abused this trust in order to lure Sarah to her death.
“The world is a safer place with him imprisoned.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said Everard’s murder “was one of the most dreadful events in the 190-year-history of the Metropolitan Police Service”.
“I am absolutely horrified that this man used his position of trust to deceive and coerce Sarah, and I know you all are too. His actions were a gross betrayal of everything policing stands for,” she said.
“What he did was unthinkable and appalling. He showed himself to be the coward he is through his lies and seeking to minimise his true responsibility for his crimes.”
Dick said that Couzens’ crimes had “brought shame on the Met”, and the organisation has “been rocked”.
“There are no words that can fully express the fury and overwhelming sadness we all feel about what happened to Sarah. I am so sorry,” she said.
Couzens pleaded guilty to murder on 9 July. The previous month he admitted kidnapping and raping Everard.
