PC David Carrick: Met Police officer admits 49 offences - including 24 rapes - against 12 women since 2003

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has admitted 49 offences, including 24 counts of rape, after carrying out sex attacks on a dozen women with impunity over an 18-year period.

Scotland Yard has apologised to victims after it emerged PC David Carrick had come to the attention of police over nine incidents including allegations of rape, domestic violence, and harassment between 2000 and 2021.

He abused some of his victims for months or years, keeping them locked in a small cupboard under the stairs in his Hertfordshire home 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.

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.

He appeared at Southwark Crown Court today, 16 January, to plead 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, who had served in the Army before joining the Met in 2001, admitted 43 charges against 11 other women, including 20 counts of rape, between March 2004 and September 2020.

He denied a further count of rape in September 2020 relating to a 13th woman, whose allegation triggered the investigation, and the Crown Prosecution Service decided it was not in the public interest to proceed to trial on the charge.

Over drinks in a pub on 4 September 2020, Carrick told her he was a firearms officer nicknamed “Bastard Dave”, showed her his warrant card and boasted of meeting famous people, including then-prime minister Boris Johnson, in the course of his work, a court previously heard.

In total Carrick, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, has pleaded guilty to 49 offences, relating to 12 women between 2003 and 2020.

PC David Carrick’s offences

• 24 counts of rape
• nine counts of sexual assault
• five counts of assault by penetration
• three counts of coercive and controlling behaviour
• three counts of false imprisonment
• two counts of attempted rape
• one count of attempted sexual assault by penetration
• one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent
• one count of indecent assault

They include the rape of nine different women, but some of the charges are multiple incident counts, meaning they relate to more than 80 sexual offences, including at least 48 rapes.

Police expect more victims to come forward

Det Ch Insp Iain Moor, from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said the “sheer number of offences” showed Carrick’s “prolific and callous nature” and he expects even more victims to come forward.

Carrick met some of the women through online dating sites such as Tinder and Badoo or on social occasions, using his position as a police officer to gain their trust. “Whilst he was not a man that stalked the streets scouting for victims – he invested time in developing relationships with women to sustain his appetite for degradation and control – the coercive nature of his offending undermined his victims in the most destructive way,” said Det Ch Insp Moor.

Carrick admitted raping nine of the women, some on multiple occasions over months or years, with many of those attacks involving violence that would have left them physically injured. Some were locked in a small cupboard under the stairs in his Hertfordshire home 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. He called women “fat and lazy” or his “slave” as he controlled them financially, isolated them from friends and family, and forbade them from speaking with other men or even their own children.

“He thrived on humiliating his victims and cleverly used his professional position to intimate there was no point in them trying to seek help because they would never be believed,” said Det Ch Insp Moor. “The coercive nature of his offending undermined his victims in the most destructive way.”

The officer described the false imprisonment charges as “shocking”, adding: “Carrick forced his victim into a small under-stairs cupboard at his home address where they stayed intimidated and humiliated until he chose when they could come out. I have seen bigger dog crates.”

“It is unbelievable to think these offences could have been committed by a serving police officer,” he said. “The offending was absolutely abhorrent and I’m disgusted by it. I have a lot of pride and respect in the police service and I’m proud to be a policeman. When something like this happens, it obviously places a big cloud over the service as a whole.

“But I’m hoping that as a result of the thorough investigation that we’ve done and the fact that he’s been brought to justice will hopefully give people the confidence to be able to report matters to the police.”

While Chief Crown Prosecutor Jaswant Narwal said the degradation Carrick caused his victims was unlike anything she had seen in her career. “Carrick held a role where he was trusted with the responsibility of protecting the public, yet over 17 years in his private life he did the exact opposite,” she said.

“This is a man who relentlessly degraded, belittled, sexually assaulted and raped women.

“As time went on the severity of his offending intensified as he became emboldened thinking he would get away with it. The scale of the degradation Carrick subjected his victims to is unlike anything I’ve encountered in my 34 years with the Crown Prosecution Service. He manipulated and assaulted these women and committed the very worst offenses against them.

“Carrick was persuasive, but also incredibly manipulative. On first meeting his victims, he would charm them, then he would try to control them. And he would often use his position as a police officer to stop them leaving or reporting him, suggesting it will be their word against his and they wouldn’t be believed.”

Met Police apologises to victims

Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray, the Met’s lead for professionalism, said: “On behalf of the Metropolitan Police, I want to apologise to the women who have suffered at the hands of David Carrick. I commend their outstanding bravery in coming forward and reporting the horrific crimes they were victims of.

“We should have spotted his pattern of abusive behaviour and because we didn’t, we missed opportunities to remove him from the organisation. We are truly sorry that Carrick was able to continue to use his role as a police officer to prolong the suffering of his victims.”

The Met said that after Carrick was charged with rape in October 2021, it began a thorough review of his service, his conduct and complaints record, any occasions on which he had come to the notice of the police and his vetting.

It was established that he was on police systems in relation to a number of off-duty incidents both before and after his employment as a police officer. The force said that with the exception of his arrest in October 2021, none of these incidents resulted in any criminal sanction at the time.

However, when the overall case history is examined now in detail, it reveals a pattern of behaviour that should have raised concerns regardless of the outcome of individual incidents.

The Assistant Commissioner added: “The duration and nature of Carrick’s offending is unprecedented in policing. But regrettably he is not the only Met officer to have been charged with serious sexual offences in the recent past.   Our work to identify and rid the Met of corrupt officers is determined and focussed.

“As the Commissioner has said, we will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who are engaged in corrupt or criminal behaviour using all the available tactics and techniques at our disposal.”

Sadiq Khan: sickened and appalled

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said: “I am absolutely sickened and appalled by the truly abhorrent offences that David Carrick has committed. Londoners will be rightly shocked that this man was able to work for the Met for so long and serious questions must be answered about how he was able to abuse his position as an officer in this horrendous manner.

“I remain in close contact with the new Met Commissioner about this case and the work to reform the culture and standards of the Met has already started with Baroness Louise Casey’s interim review now complete and a new, anonymous police complaints hotline and anti-corruption team recently established by Sir Mark Rowley. But more can and must be done - including acting on the findings of the forthcoming Angiolini Inquiry - and I will continue to hold the Met to account as they work to implement the reforms needed.”

While the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is an appalling case and the Prime Minister’s thoughts are with all of his victims. We have been clear, there is no place in our police forces for officers who fall so seriously short of the acceptable standards of behaviour and are not fit to wear the uniform.

“Police forces must root out these officers to restore the public’s trust, which has been shattered by high-profile events such as this. It’s why we have acted and we know that the Met Commissioner also understands the seriousness of this and has talked about it.”

And shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This is a truly shocking and appalling case – with the most devastating rapes, sexual and violent crimes committed against women by a serving police officer. It is a tribute to the bravery of his victims that this man has now been caught.

“But it is further evidence of appalling failures in the police vetting and misconduct processes, still not addressed by Government, that he was ever able to serve as a police officer. Everyone who demanded change will feel badly let down today.”