The crimes were committed for almost twenty years. A London police officer on Monday admitted to a total of 24 rapes and sexual assaults against 12 women. David Carrick, 48, was arrested in October 2021 and was part of the capital’s police force responsible for protecting Parliament and diplomatic missions within the Metropolitan Police (Met). He rampaged for seventeen years, between 2003 and 2020, terrorizing his victims by promoting his position.
On Monday, during an appearance in London, this officer admitted to 4 rapes, in addition to 20 others he admitted in December which could not be mentioned at the time due to ongoing proceedings. In total, he admitted 49 crimes, including 24 rapes, against twelve women. He specifically pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual assault, two attempted rapes and three kidnappings.
An “incredibly manipulative” man
“This is one of the most shocking cases that the prosecutor’s office has had to deal with involving a serving police officer,” said Jaswant Narwal, the chief of the prosecutor’s office. “The scale is terrifying,” she added.
“Carrick was persuasive but also incredibly manipulative. When he first met his victims, he charmed them by telling them that he would try to control them. And he often used his position as a police officer to prevent them from leaving or to report him, suggesting that their word was against his and they would not be believed,” explained Jaswant Narwal.
The specter of the assassination of Sarah Everard
“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police,” Deputy Commissioner Barbara Gray said she was “sincerely sorry.” “We have missed opportunities to identify his abusive behavior over time. (…) We are very sorry that he continued to be a police officer. He abused the power he had as a police officer,” she also said.
David Carrick was charged in October 2021, days after another officer in the same unit, Wayne Couzens, was sentenced to life in prison. In March 2021, Couzens raped and killed a London woman, Sarah Everard, whom he handcuffed in a false arrest before kidnapping her. The case had caused horror in the UK. Thousands of women had confided on social networks that they had been threatened or attacked in public spaces and called on politicians to take action.