It is one of the “most shocking” cases involving a police officer, according to the British prosecution. On Monday, an officer admitted to a total of 24 rapes and numerous sexual assaults over a 17-year period, drawing heavy criticism of London police.
“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police, I want to apologize to the women who suffered at the hands of David Carrick,” said Deputy Commissioner Barbara Gray. “We should have detected his behavior and, because we didn’t, we lost opportunities to remove him” from the police ranks.
His name framed in 80 files
On Monday morning, David Carrick, a 48-year-old police officer who joined the London police in 2001, pleaded guilty in a London court to four rapes. On December 13, he had already admitted to 43 crimes, including 23 rapes, as well as sexual assaults. Acts committed between 2003 and 2020.
If the former police officer therefore admitted to 24 violations, his name is incriminated in 80 files related to sexual abuse, including 48 violations, Sky News specifies here.
Arrested in October 2021
David Carrick was part of the capital police unit in charge of protecting Parliament and diplomatic representations, within the Metropolitan Police (Met), the London police.
He was arrested in October 2021 for a first case of rape. “As press interest continued, other victims came forward… The weight of testimony from him was extremely powerful,” Chief Inspector Iain Moor said outside court.
He expects more victims to come forward. David Carrick met a few women on online dating sites or on dating, using his position as a police officer to gain their trust.
Belt beatings, kidnapping, isolation
He admitted to raping nine women, some repeatedly, over months or even years. He would lock the victims in a small closet under the stairs of his house for hours, without food. He called some of his victims his “slaves”; he controlled them financially; he isolated them from their relatives.
“He loved to humiliate his victims and skillfully used his professional position to make them understand that it was useless to seek help, because they would never believe them,” explained Iain Moor. He dealt with his victims “in the most destructive way possible.”
Sky News reveals even more sordid details: thus, he confessed to having beaten one of his victims with the belt, having urinated on some.
The reproach to an entire institution
For the head of the prosecution, Jaswant Narwal, it is “one of the most shocking cases that the prosecution has had to face, in which a police officer on duty is involved.” Another case spread fear in the United Kingdom in March 2021.
Police officer Wayne Couzens had raped and murdered a Londoner, Sarah Everard, whom he had handcuffed during a false arrest, before abducting her. This agent was sentenced to life imprisonment. Police had been accused of ignoring alarming signs about the killer’s behavior.
“Police forces must root out these officers to restore public trust, which has been shattered by cases like David Carrick’s,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“We have been clear, there is no place in our police forces for officers who do not meet minimum standards.” “I am absolutely disgusted by the truly heinous crimes that David Carrick has committed,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. “We must answer serious questions about how he could have abused his position” as a police officer.
In November, a report highlighted failures in the recruitment and tracking of police officers and revealed the extent of misogynistic, sexist and even predatory behaviour. “It’s very easy for the wrong people to join and stay on the force,” said Chief of Police Inspection Services Matt Parr.
“If police are going to rebuild trust and protect their female officers and staff, scrutiny must be much stricter and sexual misconduct must be taken much more seriously,” he said.
Two checks and nine failed reports
Controlled, David Carrick has not yet been. And twice, he assures the British press: the first time in 2001 when he was recruited, the second in 2017. Two exams that he obviously passed without incident.
The controversy is all the greater since, as the BBC points out here, his actions – accusations of rape, harassment or domestic violence – were the subject of nine successive reports to his hierarchy before October 2021 without these leading to prosecutions and less to sanctions. . .
With David Carrick having pleaded guilty, there will be no trial. As of February 6, a hearing will be held to pronounce his sentence.
Source: BFM TV
