Police are investigating further allegations of rape and serious sexual assault against the convicted serial rapist David Carrick after more women came forward.
The process is sufficiently advanced for police to have asked new complainants to consider whether they are comfortable with potentially going to trial and testifying, the Guardian has learned.
Carrick, a former Metropolitan police constable, was convicted in January of 85 rapes and serious assaults, making him one of the worst sexual offenders in modern times.
He relied on making his victims fear he was untouchable, exploiting his status as an armed officer, threatening some that they would never be believed if they complained. He told one: “I am the law.”
The case against him was built by Hertfordshire police, who have been in discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service for several months.
Sources said there was still a long way to go but they expected police to seek permission from the CPS to bring further criminal charges against Carrick, as long as complainants continued to cooperate.
The likelihood of further prosecutions is one reason the government-ordered Angiolini inquiry is expected to delay its report on the Carrick scandal until at least 2024.
More than 10 people have come forward to make allegations about offences and to give police information.
Some who have made allegations of further sexual assaults may not wish to go to trial and merely want police to be aware of their alleged ordeal. Others have told police they wish to support a criminal investigation and potential new trial.
Hertfordshire police said: “Following the sentencing of former Metropolitan Police Service police officer David Carrick, a number of people contacted their local force or the investigation team directly, to either report further [allegations] against him, or to pass on information about him that they felt may be useful to the team.
“We are now working with the CPS to progress all of the new allegations where the victims wish to proceed with a criminal investigation, allowing time and providing support for them to consider their position and the implications of moving forward.”
Some of the women Carrick admitted attacking had never told their friends and family of what had happened to them. Survivors of rape and serious sexual assault are frequently deterred from testifying against their attackers, fearing the ordeal of the criminal justice process.
Prosecutors will need to work out their strategy for any new trials. Last time, the weight of the number of victims and the similarity in their testimony of how the Met officer abused them provided a case so overwhelming that Carrick eventually pleaded guilty to attacking 12 women without the need for a trial.
The rules covering the Angiolini inquiry would mean it cannot publish until the conclusion of criminal proceedings. The inquiry also has to wait for disciplinary investigations against Met officers to conclude.
Other parts of the Angiolini inquiry, such as that covering Wayne Couzens who while a Met officer abducted and murdered Sarah Everard, are expected to be published later this year.
Carrick, 48, was sentenced in February to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years, meaning he cannot be released until he is 78.
He pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences including rapes, sexual assaults, false imprisonment and coercive and controlling behaviour, which included locking women in small cupboards and whistling at them as if they were a dog.
Sentencing Carrick, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said: “You behaved as if you were untouchable. You were bold and at times relentless, trusting that no victim would overcome her shame and fear to report you. For nearly two decades you were proved right.”
Some of the offences took place in London but most were in Hertfordshire, where Carrick lived at the time of his arrest.
