David Carrick: serial rapist and assailant dismissed from the Metropolitan Police | UK News

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A D.C. police officer, who admitted to being a serial rapist, has been dismissed from the force after a misconduct hearing.

David Carrick was found to be one of the most common sex offenders in Britain after pleading guilty to dozens of rapes and sexual offences.

The 48-year-old has attacked at least 12 women over an 18-year span throughout his Met career.

He was only suspended after he was arrested following a second rape complaint in October 2021.

The force apologized to the victims after it emerged that Carrick had come to the attention of police over nine incidents including allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment between 2000 and 2021.

Carrick, who the previous day had pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to 49 attacks on women, including 24 rapes, was not present and was not represented by a lawyer.

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe ruled that his confessions amounted to gross misconduct and removed him. She was told that Carrick has not responded to the misconduct allegation.

She said: “This is a sickening and appalling case with far-reaching consequences for the police. I hope to never see something like this again.”

Home Secretary Soella Braverman told the commons that Carrick’s admission of his “brutal campaign of abuse” had been a “black day” for British police, adding: “I am sure the entire House of Representatives will want to join me in expressing my sympathies to the victims, and thank them for their courage in coming forward.”

“It is unlikely that they would have suffered as they did.

She said that “thousands of hard-working, respected police officers” would “share our collective disgust that a fellow officer might be responsible for such a despicable betrayal of all they stand for”.

Ms Braverman also said she had begun to review dismissals by the police, adding that she would “not hesitate to challenge the police to live up to the standards we all expect of them”.

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0:35 “One of the most shocking cases”

Read more: Timeline of Dead Police’s missed opportunities to stop a serial rapist

The Metropolitan Police’s attorney, Hywel Bennett, said Carrick’s crimes had had a “catastrophic impact on his victims and their families” and would damage the reputation of the force.

He added, “His crimes were outrageous, purposeful and premeditated. The police took a step backwards as a result of these convictions.”

A former soldier, Carrick joined the Met in 2001 and later worked in the Diplomatic Protection Unit that guards Parliament and foreign embassies.

For much of his time in uniform he would abuse, harass, and rape vulnerable women. There were twelve victims over a period of 17 years.

Carrick, 48, used his professional status to control them, telling them, “I’m a police officer, you’ll be safe with me.”

He also warned them that if they reported his behaviour, no one would believe them.

He locked the victims in a small closet, and had some clean the house naked and urinate on the others. Some victims alerted the police, but later refused to move forward with their complaints and no action was taken. The Metropolitan Police admitted this week that they had been warned about his behaviour, but had done nothing to stop him.

He was finally suspended in 2021 after a woman filed a rape complaint and his salary was suspended last month when he admitted most of the charges against him. Others denied until Monday this week.

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0:57 “We’re really sorry…we missed opportunities”

After Carrick’s guilty plea, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “We failed. And I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have been a police officer. We failed as detectives where we should have been more intrusive and joined the dots on this two-decade iteration of misogyny.”

“And as leaders, our mindset should have been more determined to root out such misogyny.”

Earlier, Sir Mark had said that Carrick’s hiring was a “fiasco” by his force.

He told Radio 4 Today: “You can’t say anything else – it certainly is.

“I’ve been crystal clear from taking office… that one of the most important items of my responsibilities is to rebuild our integrity, and part of that is to stand up to those who corrupt our integrity — people like David Carrick and, frankly, many others.

“We’ve been very weak about this, systemically, for some time.”

The Metropolitan Police is now investigating more than 1,600 previously closed cases from the past 10 years, “checking each one to confirm that the correct procedures were taken and that sufficiently stringent scrutiny was applied,” according to the force.

Carrick, who faces life in prison, will be sentenced in three weeks.

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