David Carrick (serial rapist)

David Carrick (born 4 January 1975) is an English serial rapist and former police officer who worked for the Metropolitan Police. He joined the police force in 2001 and worked as an armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) branch from 2009 until his initial suspension and subsequent sacking from his position in 2021. An independent public inquiry into the case is being chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini.

Following his arrest, Carrick pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape between 2002 and 2021. In 2023, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of more than thirty years.

Early life and education
David Carrick was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on 4 January 1975. At the time of his birth, Carrick's parents, a cleaner and a Royal Artillery soldier, lived at Bulford military camp. After the birth of his younger sister, the family moved to Durrington. Carrick went to Durrington comprehensive school. His parents divorced when he was a teenager.

Career and criminality
After a short career in the British Army, Carrick became a police officer with the Metropolitan Police (Met) in 2001, initially serving as a response officer in South London, before he joined the armed Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) branch in 2009.

Although both the Met and other British police forces received multiple complaints about his behaviour, including an investigation for domestic abuse in 2002, Carrick was re-certified to remain an armed police officer in 2017. Work colleagues gave Carrick the nickname 'Bastard Dave', due to his propensity for cruelty.

Between 2003 and 2020, Carrick abused and raped multiple women he met using the dating sites Badoo and Tinder, often in Hertfordshire. Using his job as a police officer to gain their trust and inflate his importance, he developed several abusive relationships. Carrick degraded his victims via physical abuse with a belt, imprisonment in small spaces, urinating on victims and rape. In some cases he controlled what his victims wore, when or what they ate and where they slept. He would sometimes ban them from eating altogether.

In October 2021, a woman reported to the police that Carrick had date raped her a year earlier, deciding to come forward the day after Wayne Couzens, another Met officer who served in the same unit as Carrick, was sentenced for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

Legal proceedings
At approximately 05:18 GMT on 2 October 2021, Carrick was arrested at his home address in Hertfordshire. His arrest is captured on body-worn video, where he is heard to say: "There's no necessity", regarding his arrest.

Carrick was suspended from police work.

40 officers and staff were assigned to Carrick's case, all having to sign disclaimers that they would not disclose information about the case, wanting to stop leaks from the investigation reaching the press.

Carrick initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. As of May 2022 he was being held on remand at HM Prison Belmarsh in south-east London. In December 2022, at the Old Bailey criminal court in Central London, Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including 24 of rape; the charges relate to twelve female victims. On 16 January 2023, at Southwark Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to four more charges of rape.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, reacted with a statement that he was "absolutely sickened and appalled". Crown Prosecution Service Chief Prosecutor Jaswant Narwal was quoted stating "the scale of the degradation Carrick subjected his victims to is unlike anything I have encountered in my 34 years with the Crown Prosecution Service".

In the wake of Carrick's conviction, the Metropolitan Police said the force was re-examining past claims of domestic abuse or sexual offences against Met officers and staff, and said the force was looking into about 1,000 of its 45,000 employees.

Carrick's sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court began on 6 February 2023. On 7 February 2023, he subsequently received 36 life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years plus 239 days, meaning he must serve that long in prison before becoming eligible for parole. He will become eligible for parole on 2 May 2052.

Outline of victims, offending, offences and sentences
The following details regarding the victims and the background to the offences, as well as the specific counts on the indictments and sentences are taken from the sentencing remarks by sentencing judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb:

On 8 February 2023, the Attorney General's Office announced that, after "multiple requests", they would be reviewing the sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme. On 3 March, Michael Tomlinson, the Solicitor-General for England and Wales, said that he was satisfied sentencing judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb "gave careful and detailed consideration to all the features of this case" when deciding how much time Carrick would spend in prison, and that the sentencing would not be sent to the Court of Appeal for review.

In July 2023 it was announced that six of Carrick's victims were intending to sue the Metropolitan Police for breaching their human rights by failing to investigate properly.

On 20 July 2023 the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced that it was starting four investigations into the way the Metropolitan Police had handled complaints against Carrick. The IOPC also announced that it was conducting a similar investigation into Wiltshire Police.

On 18 October 2023, it was reported that a total of 12 serving and former police officers were being investigated for misconduct in relation to the handling of allegations made against Carrick.

On 7 June 2024, it was reported that two police officers from Wiltshire Police had been issued with final written warnings over how they had failed to investigate an allegation of sexual abuse made against Carrick in 2016.

Personal life
Before being jailed, Carrick lived in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. While being held on remand, he reportedly attempted suicide.