Rapist police officer David Carrick has been handed 36 life sentences for an “evil” catalogue of violence, control and abuse of women over nearly two decades.
The 48-year-old will have to serve at least 32 years before being considered for release.
Carrick subjected 12 women to degrading and humiliating abuse while using his status as a Metropolitan Police officer to pressure and bully them into silence.
One woman was raped repeatedly by Carrick after he pointed a gun at her head and trapped her in his flat, while another recalled being sent an image of the PC’s police-issue firearm with the message “Remember I am the boss”.
Carrick, an elite firearms officer in the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, locked one of his victims naked in a tiny cupboard and would beat her with a metal whip for “punishment”.
The officer – nicknamed ‘Bastard Dave’ by colleagues - used his police status initially to charm women, telling one: “Trust me – I am the safest person you can be around”.
But many of the women told Southwark crown court they felt unable to report being raped and abused by Carrick as they feared they would not be believed.
On Tuesday, Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb handed Carrick 36 life sentences. She ordered him to serve 30 years and 239 days in prison before he can be considered for release, on top of the time he has already spent in prison.
“Your conviction represents a spectacular downfall for a man charged with upholding the law and empowered to do so to the extent of being authorised to bear a firearm in the execution of his duty”, she said.
“Behind a public appearance of propriety and trustworthiness, you took monstrous advantage of women drawn into intimate relationships with you.
“You brazenly raped and sexually assaulted many women, some you barely knew.
“You behaved as if you were untouchable. You were bold and at times relentless, trusting no victim would overcome her shame and fear to report you. For nearly two decades, you were proved right but now a combination of those 12 women, by coming forward, and your police colleagues, by acting on their evidence, have exposed you and brought you low.
“You have lost your liberty, your job and your status. You have before you the prospect of a difficult time in custody for many years.”
Carrick’s case has sparked a fresh crisis at Scotland Yard, after it emerged there were multiple missed chances across nearly 20 years to root out his true nature.
He had been accused of mistreating a former partner before he joined the Met in 2001, was repeatedly accused of domestic violence and eventually rape, but was never charged with a crime, subjected to renewed vetting, suspended, or charged with misconduct.
Carrick was eventually stopped in October 2021 when a woman accused him of date rape, and 12 women came forward to reveal abuse between 2003 and 2020.
One of the women was raped, beaten, and tormented by Carrick while they were in a relationship, including being locked in a small cupboard and instructed when she could eat.
“The defendant drilled into me he was the police, he was the law, and he owned me”, she said, of the prospect of reporting his behaviour.
“I was terrified of making myself a target so I remained silent.”
Another former girlfriend said Carrick rigged his home with cameras to monitor her movements from work, and called her his “slave”.
“I have never felt so humiliated, trapped and hurt in my life”, she said. “No one will ever understand how it feels unless it has happened to them, no one can judge you and the pain will never go away.”
Carrick’s first known victim recalled how, in 2003, she found herself trapped in his home with a gun to her head, before being raped and degraded over the course of a night.
“That night I felt I had encountered evil”, she said. “I distinctively remember his words: ‘Come on, you can trust me, I am the safest person you can be around. I am a police officer.
“I honestly thought he was going to kill me that night, I thought he was going to rape me and kill me and that my life would be over.”
She added that she went to A&E after escaping from Carrick’s clutches, but was persuaded by a nurse not to report him to the police.
“She told me it would be very hard getting it to go to court as the law tend to protect their own and that it is also likely that he would know it was you and could make your life hell for doing so”, said the woman, in her impact statement.
“Her advice was to really consider this before choosing to report it and possibly look at getting on with life without reporting it.”
One of the women said Carrick sent her a picture of him posing with his police-issue firearm, while another recalled being restrained in bed by the PC using his work handcuffs.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Carrick has caused “irretrievable devastation in the lives of those you abused.”
She said it is “remarkable” that one woman’s complaint against Carrick gave the courage to so many others to come forward, adding: “The malign influence of men like you in positions of power stand in the way of a revolution in women’s dignity.”
Scotland Yard has issued an apology for the fact Carrick was not stopped sooner, with Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray conceding: “He should not have been a police officer.”
He was not suspended when first accused of rape in July 2021, and had escaped close scrutiny throughout his policing career despite a series of run-ins with the law.
The court also heard of other incidents in Carrick’s private life, where he had banned a girlfriend from seeing her son for a year because he had mental health difficulties, pushing a young boy’s head into a sofa, and forced a woman to have sex with him in earshot of her daughter.
The case has sparked reform within the Met and other police forces, including fresh rounds of vetting and renewed investigations of complaints against officers.
Carrick’s barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, said the former police officer and serial rapist is an example of “good and evil dwelling in the one skin”, and conceded he may now die behind bars.
The court heard he told a probation officer he had been neglected as a child and abused by his stepfather as a teenager.
The judge concluded his claim - that he does not remember many of the rapes he carried out - “lacks credibility”, and shows Carrick is minimising his offending while “yet unable to face the enormity of the abhorrant acts you did while a serving police officer”.
She also revealed that Carrick made a “committed attempt” to kill himself with a razor blade in February last year while being held at HMP Belmarsh.
Carrick, from Stevenage, pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including 24 rape counts.
Following the sentencing, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described Carrick’s crimes as “unspeakably evil” and admitted: “He should not have been a police officer.
“We weren’t rigorous enough in our approach and as a result we missed opportunities to identify the warning signs over decades.”
Sir Mark said the Met is “truly sorry”, adding: “We have let down women across London but we are more determined than ever to put it right.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman called Carrick’s crimes “a scar on our police”.
She said: “It is only right that he now faces at least 30 years behind bars. I pay tribute to the brave women who have come forward to hold him to account for his vile abuse.
“It is vital we uncover how he was able to wear the uniform for so long, and I welcome the Angiolini Inquiry's investigation into David Carrick's criminal behaviour and the decision-making around his vetting.
“There is no place in our police for such heinous and predatory behaviour, and I look forward to receiving Lady Elish’s findings.”
