PC David Carrick: full timeline of rapist Met Police officer’s sex attacks over 18 years with impunity

Metropolitan Police officer PC David Carrick has admitted carrying out a string of rapes and sex attacks on a dozen women with impunity over an 18-year period.

Today, at Southwark Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, false imprisonment, and indecent assault, relating to a 40-year-old woman in 2003.In December at the Old Bailey, Carrick, admitted 43 charges against 11 other women, including 20 counts of rape, between March 2004 and September 2020.

Scotland Yard has apologised to victims, saying the rapist officer had come to the attention of detectives over nine incidents between 2000 and 2021 before he was prosecuted. There were 12 occasions when Carrick was reported to different forces around the south east, before he was charged.

The 48-year-old – who joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009 – faced no criminal sanctions or misconduct findings, and was only suspended after being arrested over a second rape complaint in October 2021.

Carrick abused some of his victims for months or years, keeping them locked in a small cupboard under the stairs in his home in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, for hours without food or forced to clean his house naked. Carrick whipped one woman with a belt, urinated on some of his victims, and told them when they could eat and sleep.

Here we look at the timeline of Carrick’s reign of terror as he carried out rapes and sexual assaults with impunity over 18 years.

1996-1997: Carrick serves in the British Army.

2000: He is a suspect in two offences reported to the Met involving allegations of malicious communications and burglary against a former partner, after Carrick refused to accept the end of their relationship. He is not arrested and no further action is taken.

August 2001: Carrick joins the Met. After training he works as a response officer based in Merton, south-west London.

2002: While still in his two-year probationary period, Carrick is accused of harassment and assault against a former partner. He is not arrested by the Met and no further action is taken. The matter is not referred to the Directorate of Professional Standards. Seperately, Carrick is subject of the first of five public complaints made between 2002 and 2008. Two allegations he had been rude were dealt with by management action locally, while three relating to incivility and use of force were withdrawn or dismissed.

2003: His first known victim is repeatedly raped.

2004: Carrick rapes a 57-year-old woman. Later in the year, Carrick is involved in a domestic incident but no criminal allegations are made to the Met, he is not arrested and the matter is not referred to the Directorate of Professional Standards.

July 2005: The officer is now based in Barnet, north London.

2006-2009: On multiple occasions, the officer rapes a woman, who he abuses, threatens with violence and demeans. She fears that she will not be believed if she reports him.

2009: Carrick is transferred to what is now the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, where his role involves providing an armed policing presence at parliamentary, government and diplomatic premises.

2009: Hertfordshire Police receive a domestic abuse report from a third party involving Carrick but neither party make a complaint and no charge is brought. Hertfordshire Police inform Met supervisors.

2009: Carrick meets his next victim, a 51-year-old woman, who he sexually assaults after a social evening.

August 2009: He sexually assaults a 47-year-old woman after sharing a hotel room following a social event.

November 2009: Carrick invites a 57-year-old woman back to his home, becomes aggressive and tries to rape her.

November 2015: Carrick rapes a 45-year-old woman.

2016: Carrick is a suspect in a Hampshire Police investigation following an allegation of harassment. He is not arrested and the investigation is later closed.

October 2016: Carrick repeatedly rapes and sexually abuses a woman he met online, in some cases causing injuries and urinating over her.

2017: Carrick should have been vetted after 10 years of service but is only now re-vetted and passes. He is spoken to by Thames Valley Police officers after he is thrown out of a Reading nightclub for being drunk. He is not arrested and the matter is not referred to the Met.

March 2017: Carrick meets a woman on a night out, who he goes on to rape multiple times and sexually abuse. She later describes him as totally controlling and aggressive and says he regularly urinated in her mouth, humiliated her and threatened her with violence.

2017: Carrick meets a 31-year-old woman on an online dating site who later tells how he raped her in the shower after dragging her in by her hair. She also describes being whipped with a belt and suffocated during sex.

July 2018: Carrick meets a 41-year-old woman online, who he sexually assaults while she cleans his bathroom.

2019: Hertfordshire Police receive a third party report of assault and criminal damage involving an argument between Carrick and a woman during a domestic incident. He is said to have grabbed her by the neck. Neither party are supportive of police involvement and no further action is taken after the case is looked at by the domestic abuse unit. The incident is referred to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards and Carrick is given words of advice in relation to informing his chain of command about off-duty incidents. It is determined he has no case to answer in relation to misconduct.

July 2020: Carrick meets a woman on an online dating site who he goes on to rape, causing her injuries. He is verbally and physically aggressive, urinates on her and uses sex toys against her will.

July 2021: The woman reports being raped by Carrick. He is arrested by Hertfordshire Police over the allegation but no further action is taken after she withdraws the complaint. The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards is made aware and Carrick is placed on restricted duties. It is determined he has no case to answer in relation to any misconduct and in September the restriction is lifted, although he never returns to full duties.

1 October 2021: A 50-year-old woman reports she was raped by Carrick in September 2020. He is arrested, charged and suspended by the Met.

4 October 2021: Carrick is remanded in custody after appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with rape.

October 2021-October 2022: The publicity prompts another 12 women to come forward and make allegations against Carrick.

16 December 2022: Carrick pleads guilty to 43 offences at the Old Bailey. His pay is stopped by the Met.

16 January 2023: Carrick admits a further six charges at Southwark Crown Court.

17 January 2023: Carrick is sacked from the Met Police for gross misconduct.