London police officer pleads guilty to 24 counts of rape, years after alarm raised

A serving London police officer has has admitted carrying out 24 counts of rape in a near
two decade-long campaign of abuse against women. He pleaded guilty to 49 charges relating to 12 victims.

David Carrick, formerly an armed officer in London’s Metropolitan Police force, pleaded guilty to charges of rape, false imprisonment and indecent assault before the capital’s Southwark Crown Court, making him one of Britain's most prolific serial sex offenders. 

At the Old Bailey criminal court in London last month, Carrick admitted to charges against women with many of those attacks involving violence that would have left victims physically injured.

The attacks took place from 2003 to 2020 when Carrick worked as a response officer and later within the Met Police’s parliamentary and diplomatic command, when he used to guard the UK Parliament, the prime minister’s residence and foreign embassies.

Carrick was suspended from duty upon his arrest in October 2021. Most of his offences took place in Hertfordshire, a county north of London where he lived.

The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chief, Jaswant Narwal called Carrick’s case one of the “most shocking” she’s ever seen.

“The scale of the degradation Carrick subjected his victims to is unlike anything I have encountered in my 34 years with the Crown Prosecution Service,” she said.

Investigators said they discovered a pattern of behavior where Carrick used his position as a police officer to gain the trust of his victims, who feared they would not be believed because of his position.

Carrick served in his formal position despite numerous complaints against him and the force ignored eight warnings about his abusive behavior, allegations of malicious communications and burglary against an ex-partner.

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The Metropolitan Police force said Carrick was vetted in 2001 and again in 2017, and passed on both occasions.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “absolutely sickened and appalled” by Carrick's crimes and said serious questions must be answered about how he was able to abuse his position as an officer in this horrendous manner.

The shocking revelations of the sadistic attacks admitted by the 48-year-old Carrick came as the detectives made clear they believe there are even more victims and urged them to come forward.

Barbara Gray, an assistant commissioner at the Met, said the force was reviewing every past claim of domestic abuse or sexual offence against about 1,000 of the Met’s 45,000 officers and staff.

She was at pains to say that: “We should have spotted his pattern of abusive behavior and because we didn't, we missed opportunities to remove him from the organization.”

“We are truly sorry that being able to continue to use his role as a police officer may have prolonged the suffering of his victims,” she added.

Sir Mark Rowley, Met commissioner since September, vowed to reform the force “at speed” and said “We have failed. And I’m sorry. We should have been more intrusive and joined the dots on this repeated misogyny over a couple of decades. And as leaders, our mindset should have been more determined to root out such a misogynist.”

“I apologize to all of David Carrick’s victims. And I also want to say sorry to all of the women across London who feel we’ve let them down,” Rowley added.

Public trust in UK police even lower year after Sarah Everard murder

Its one year since a Met police officer murdered 31 year old Sarah Everard in the UK. In response to the tragedy, which has undermined the public’s trust in the force, the government says it is spending millions on making women safer.

Carrick was finally stopped when one woman did decide to report him and contacted police in October 2021, following publicity about disgraced Metropolitan Police officer PC Wayne Couzens, who kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered a young woman called Sarah Everard in London.

In the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, the force publicly proclaimed its commitment to protecting women and launched an “action plan” to try to regain trust. But it has now admitted its professional standards department made no attempt to check the full record of another officer accused of rape.

The Met was placed under “special measures” last year after revelations of bullying, racial discrimination and misogyny among some of its officers. That status means more scrutiny for UK’s police force, which now has to report to inspectors regularly.

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