Serial sex offender and former police officer David Carrick has been handed his 37th life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years for molesting a 12-year-old girl and raping a former partner.
Carrick, 50, was convicted on Wednesday of a “horrific” pattern of offending spanning 30 years. The trial at the Old Bailey heard how his “aggressive and violent” behaviour “escalated” after he abused the girl in the 1980s, going on to subject a woman “degrading and humiliating abuse” more than 20 years later.
The ex-Metropolitan Police officer is already serving 36 life sentences with a minimum term of 32 years after he admitted a string of sex offences against 12 women in February 2023. Following his conviction, the two victims at the centre of the second case came forward to police to accuse Carrick of further sex offences.
On Wednesday, Carrick was found guilty at the Old Bailey of five charges of sexual assault on the child and two charges of rape, one of sexual assault and controlling and coercive behaviour towards the former partner.
Sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan recognised the “courage and resilience” of the victims and said she had “no doubt” Carrick is “dangerous”.
During the trial, jurors had heard how Carrick abused a young girl for around 18 months before she told her mother what was going on.
He confessed in a letter which was recovered from his medical records and signed “Dave”. In it, Carrick wrote that the girl was “not crazy” and that it was “true” but that he had stopped about four months ago.
He wrote: “I know how (the girl) must feel. That’s why I stopped and promised I would never go near her again and I have kept that promise and I always will.”
In a police interview, the now-grown up victim described the young Carrick as “very sly” and “manipulative”.
After she told her mother about the abuse, the matter was “brushed under the carpet like it was nothing”, she said.
Giving evidence in court, she told jurors: “When I heard he was a Metropolitan Police officer, the words I have always used were: ‘God help anyone with him with a warrant card’.”
The second victim met Carrick through a dating website and was aware from the start he was a police officer. She went on to form a relationship with him, and told jurors he had appeared “charming, witty, sarcastic” and like “everyone’s best friend”.
But during their relationship, he became controlling and raped her on multiple occasions.
The court heard that she had been left traumatised and that Carrick had “ruined” her life and tainted her views on sex and relationships.
During a police interview over her claims, Carrick said that sex with the woman was consensual and accused her of being motivated by the MeToo movement.
But after five hours of deliberation, jurors convicted the former police officer of of five charges of sexual assault on the child and two charges of rape, one of sexual assault and controlling and coercive behaviour towards the former partner.
Sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan noted Carrick’s “cynical willingness” for the two women to be forced to give evidence in court because of his continued denial of wrongdoing.
The judge said that failure to act on a written confession to abusing the 12-year-old girl that the then-teenaged Carrick made in 1990 had consequences for his future crimes.
She told Carrick: “You were able to admit what you did but despite that you changed the meaning of that confession in these proceedings.
“The confession was not acted on in a way that may have prevented you from attacking and raping many other women. They were the first examples to come to light of your disposition to commit predatory sexual crimes.”
She added: “I have no doubt that you are dangerous and the life sentences on an earlier occasion are fully merited.”
In statements read to the court, the victims described the ongoing trauma from Carrick’s abuse and the lifelong effect his actions had on their lives. The woman who was molested as a child had difficulty trusting people and forming relationships, the court was told.
She said: “The public revelations of David’s actions caused me to relive my trauma which severely impacted my mental health.
“I do not believe David has any remorse for his actions. He tries to blame his past home life for what he has done. Although his actions and the depravity are now known the impact on my life is far from over.”
The woman who was raped by Carrick during a formative relationship described the feeling of viewing herself through a “looking glass”.
Her experiences had the effect of “rewriting” her understanding of future relationships and doubting herself.
She grieved for the life she might have had, and said in her statement: “I did not get the chance to learn love in the way most people do – I learned survival instead.
“I fight through fear, through memories, through the exhaustion trauma leaves behind.”
Following the guilty verdicts, Detective Superintendent Iain Moor, of Hertfordshire Constabulary, said the future could have been very different if Carrick’s confession was handed to police in 1990.
“Hopefully, people are starting to feel more confident to come forward and report matters to the police. I think there’s still more work to do,” the senior officer said.
