Eleanor Neale

constantly shifting rules.

And to say that it had gotten messy and confusing would be the understatement of the century.

At this point in time, the legal wording around it all was that you weren't allowed to leave your house without a reasonable excuse.

Which is obviously down to interpretation.

What counted as a reasonable excuse was different for each individual.

But if a police officer deemed that your excuse wasn't reasonable enough, you were technically breaking the law and there could be consequences.

You could be fined or even arrested.

On the evening of March 3rd, 2021, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was headed to her friend's house for dinner.

It was about a 45 minute walk away and it wasn't a particularly warm day so she was bundled up in a raincoat and a beanie hat.

Along the way she popped into a Sainsbury's and picked up a bottle of red wine for the two of them to share and before long she arrived and the two of them had a lovely evening.

They caught up, they laughed, they shared stories and good food and then just after 9pm Sarah gathered her things and set off on the rather long walk back home.

Shortly after she began the journey, she called her boyfriend Josh and they caught up on their days.

For about 15 minutes, she walked and they talked.

They made plans to see each other the next day.

And then at exactly 9.28pm, the phone conversation ended.

And that was the last time that anyone heard from Sarah Everard.

It wasn't until the next day when she didn't show up to a work meeting and her boyfriend couldn't get ahold of her that people began to realise that something was wrong.

This was totally unlike Sarah, an ambitious woman dedicated to her career, a loving, communicative girlfriend.

She wouldn't just ghost on everyone around her like this.

Something immediately seemed off.