July 9th 2023.
David Carrick, also known as 'Bastard Dave' by his colleagues at the Met, was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for a 'catalogue of violent and brutal' sex attacks against 12 women between 2003 and 2020. He had worked for the Met for two decades, joining in 2001 and eventually becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009.
It was reported that the Met had been alerted nine times in 20 years over Carrick's criminal behaviour, yet he was only arrested in October 2021. This has led six of his victims to plan a lawsuit against the Met, claiming they breached the Human Rights Act by failing to properly investigate serious violence against women.
Debaleena Dasgupta, the lawyer representing the six women, said: “These women came to me horrified by what they learnt — only via the press — about the opportunities missed in this case. They wanted to know what they could do to help prevent the same thing happening to someone else.”
One of the women participating in the lawsuit spoke to Channel 5 documentary and said: “I want to know why he went for so long doing what he did to victims when this could have been stopped a long time ago. I need answers. We all need answers.”
Sentencing him on on 49 charges of sex attacks, including 24 counts of rape, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Carrick had ‘specifically reassured, tricked or intimidated’ several of the women, ‘abusing the trust the public vest in police officers’.
Describing Carrick as a 'monster' and 'evil', Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “He should not have been a police officer. The treatment that he subjected his victims to was truly degrading and inhumane. There were many signs that we should have joined together, he should have been rooted out during his career as a police officer. It's upsetting to be stood here talking about this and I apologise again to the victims and indeed I apologise to the women of London, many of whom will be troubled and their trust in policing will be shaken.”
The Met has confirmed receipt of the claim, and a spokeswoman said they had “apologised to all his victims and more widely to women across London who felt we had let them down by failing to earlier deal with his sickening offending”.
It is clear that Carrick's offences could have been stopped much earlier had the Met taken the reports of criminal behaviour more seriously. This has left a lasting impact on his victims, and they now seek answers and justice for what they have been through.
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