Disgraced former Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick, previously exposed as one of the UK’s most prolific sexual offenders, has been handed another life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl as a teenager and raping a former partner while serving as a police officer.
Carrick, 50, is already serving 36 life sentences after admitting to 85 rapes and serious assaults against 12 adult women in a landmark 2023 case. The new convictions represent the first proven offences involving a child and further highlight a series of missed opportunities that allowed him to remain in uniform for nearly two decades.
ABUSE SPANNED DECADES
At the Old Bailey, the court heard that Carrick sexually abused the schoolgirl over an 18-month period when he was aged 14 to 16. He would cover her mouth to silence her and, on one occasion, trap her between furniture while assaulting her. A letter he wrote at the time, later recovered in his medical records, contained a partial confession that—had it surfaced—would likely have prevented him from joining the police in 2001.
His victim, now an adult, said she was horrified to learn he had become a Metropolitan Police officer: “God help anyone with him with a warrant card,” she told the court.
RAPES WHILE SERVING AS A POLICE OFFICER
Carrick’s convictions also relate to the rape and coercive control of a woman he met through a dating app. Between 2014 and 2015, and again in 2019, he repeatedly raped her and forced her to engage in sexual acts. Their relationship ended after he dragged her down a staircase during a violent confrontation in September 2019.
Neighbours intervened and police were called, but Hertfordshire Police referred the case to the Met, which took no disciplinary action beyond issuing Carrick “words of advice” — one of nine reports about his behaviour lodged with police since 2000. None resulted in misconduct proceedings, allowing him to continue serving in the parliamentary protection unit.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors that the woman felt unable to report the abuse earlier because Carrick’s police status made her fear she would not be believed.
JUDGE CONDEMNS “PREDATORY” OFFENDING
Sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan praised the courage of both women and condemned Carrick’s “cynical willingness” to force them to testify after he denied wrongdoing. She said his early sexual assaults demonstrated a long-standing “predatory disposition” and reiterated that he remains a dangerous offender.
Carrick refused to give evidence at trial, dismissing the schoolgirl’s allegations as lies and insisting the sexual activity with the woman was consensual. The jury convicted him of five counts of sexual assault against the child and multiple counts of rape, assault and coercive behaviour toward the woman.
SYSTEMIC FAILURES EXPOSED
Carrick’s case has shaken public confidence in British policing and triggered an internal Met review of over 1,000 officers who have faced allegations of domestic or sexual misconduct over the past decade. Despite repeated police involvement in Carrick’s personal life—including a 2000 investigation for breaking into an ex-partner’s home and stealing her underwear—he joined the Met the following year and went on to commit his first known rape as an officer in 2003.
Following the verdicts, senior Crown prosecutor Shilpa Shah described Carrick as “manipulative, controlling and abusive,” saying he relied on a façade of charm to conceal his crimes. Detective Superintendent Iain Moor of Hertfordshire Constabulary added that the verdicts centred on “giving victims a voice” and ensuring they were finally believed.
Police have urged any additional victims of Carrick’s sexual offending to come forward as investigations continue.
Source:Africa Publicity
