MP brands Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens a 'monster'

Home Secretary Ms Patel welcomed the sentence as Couzens was jailed until he dies for the killing.

She backed Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick amid calls for her to resign, but said "serious questions" need to be answered by the Met.

Earlier this month Dame Cressida's contract was extended by two years, which means she will continue to lead the Met until 2024.

Speaking at the Home Office, Ms Patel said: "There are questions, serious questions, that need to be answered by the Metropolitan Police ... from the very day that Sarah went missing, I have been, clearly, in contact with the Metropolitan Police and putting forward some questions around the conduct of the potential suspect at the time and all the requirements and checks that should have been put in place."

Asked if Dame Cressida should resign, she said: "I will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police and the commissioner to hold them to account as everybody would expect me to do, and I will continue to do that."

'Monster' - Wayne Couzens

Describing Couzens as a "monster" and the case as "sickening" and an "appalling tragedy", Ms Patel said: "It is right that he has been given a whole-life tariff and with that he can never walk the streets of our country again."

Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "Cressida Dick is not responsible for the individual acts of every police officer, including a police officer of the appalling criminal intent of Wayne Couzens.

"Cressida Dick has a great deal of support from her officers and has led the force with distinction."

Artist's sketch of the court proceedings

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also rejected calls for the commissioner to be replaced, telling ITV's Good Morning Britain: "I was pleased that her contract was extended and I support her."

Met Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House told the London Assembly's police and crime committee the actions of Couzens "constitute a gross betrayal of everything in policing that we believe in, everything that the Met stands for", adding: "He was one of us and we need to look at ourselves very, very carefully to understand, a, how was he allowed to be one of us, and what does it say about us as an organisation that he was."

Witham MP and Home Secretary Priti Patel

He said the case had raised questions on recruitment and vetting, adding: "We know we have to work to rebuild trust and confidence, and we will do all we can to achieve that."

But Labour MP Harriet Harman has asked Ms Patel to take urgent action to "rebuild the shattered confidence of women in the police service", and told Dame Cressida she needs to step aside to "enable these changes to be taken through".