A Metropolitan Police Department officer who worked with rapist and murderer Wayne Cousins admitted to 24 rapes and 25 other crimes committed over an 18-year period.
PC David Carrick, 48, appeared in Southwark Criminal Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, wrongful imprisonment and lewd assault involving a 40-year-old woman in 2003.
Carrick last month pleaded guilty to 43 charges against 11 women, including 20 rapes between March 2004 and September 2020.
London’s Metropolitan Police have already apologized to 12 of Carrick’s victims after restrictions on reporting the incident were lifted, it was revealed Monday.
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has lamented the Metropolitan Police’s poor track record in screening and monitoring police and has threatened to fire hundreds of officers who do not meet the required standards of conduct. has already been recorded.
Carrick pleaded guilty to a total of 49 rape, assault and harassment charges between 2000 and 2021.
Carrick joined the London Metropolitan Police in 2001 and eight years later became an armed officer in the Parliamentary Diplomatic Protection Command, serving alongside Cousins, who was sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021. will be .
Earlier hearings had heard that Carrick, who lived in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, boasted to a woman that he was an armed officer protecting VIPs, including then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
It is revealed that Carrick led a glamorous life throughout his time at Metropolitan University.
In 2002, while still on probation, he was accused of harassment and assault by a former girlfriend. I did.
He was the subject of five public complaints between 2002 and 2008, then in 2009 Hertfordshire police received a third party report of domestic violence and referred him to Carrick’s supervisor at Metropolitan University. passed.
His crimes continued and in July 2021 a woman reported Carrick to Hertfordshire police for rape, but no action was taken after she dropped the complaint.
The MET’s Office of Professional Standards then placed him on a restricted assignment, but the misconduct hearing was dropped in September 2021. He was about to return to full duty when a woman claimed to have raped her a year earlier on October 1, 2021.
At that point he was arrested, charged and suspended by the Met.
That was the day after his former colleague Cousins was told by a judge that he would never be released from prison.
A 13th woman’s rape charge has been dropped by the public prosecutor’s office.
I met a woman on Tinder and used my job to earn her trust
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Moore, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Crimes Unit, said Carrick met women through online dating apps such as Tinder and Badoo or by chatting in pubs and social settings. said he often used his position as a police officer. officers to earn their trust.
“He wasn’t the kind of guy who would stalk the streets looking for victims, but he did spend his time building relationships with women to sustain his desire for depravity and control,” Moore said.
According to Moore, Carrick had affairs with some women, controlled them financially, isolated them from friends and family, and even prohibited them from talking to their own children.
“He succeeded in humiliating his victims and used his professional position to imply that there was no point in asking them for help because they would never believe it.” It is.” The cupboard under the stairs.
Mr Moore said: Crime is absolutely abominable and I am sick of it. I have a lot of pride and respect for the police service and am proud to be a police officer. ”
“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police, I would like to apologize to the women who have been harmed at the hands of David Carrick,” said Barbara Gray, head of professionalism for the Metropolitan Police.
“Carrick is a prolific serial sex offender who has abused his position as a police officer, committed the most horrific and degrading crimes, and preyed on women for years.”
Gray added: We know they felt they couldn’t come forward right away because he said he wouldn’t believe it. ”
“We should have discovered his pattern of abusive behavior, but by not doing so, we missed the opportunity to remove him from the organization. I’m really sorry that I continued to take advantage of the role,” she added.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I am absolutely disgusted and appalled by the truly abhorrent crime committed by David Carrick.”
Mr Khan said: “Londoners will rightfully be shocked that this man was able to serve so long in the Metropolitan Police Service. How could he abuse his position as an officer in this horrifying way. We must answer serious questions about whether
Carrick is likely to face a life sentence after being sentenced by Judge Cheema Grubb next month.
PA Media contributed to this report.
Chris Summers is a UK-based journalist with a wide range of national coverage, with a particular interest in crime, police and law.