The police watchdog has launched multiple conduct probes into eight Met police officers over their handling of complaints against serial rapist police officer David Carrick.
Ex-Met PC Carrick, formerly an elite firearms officer in the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, carried out a campaign of rape and abuse during his policing career.
The 46-year-old, whom colleagues had nicknamed ‘Bastard Dave’, was jailed earlier this year for subjecting at least a dozen victims to physical and emotional abuse over the course of 18 years, using his status as a police officer to coerce victims into silence.
On Thursday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was launching four separate investigations into the conduct of eight MPS officers and one staff member into the handling of complaints about Carrick.
It criticised the force for failing to identify any potential conduct matters against officers in the force after an internal review into reports which could have stopped Carrick sooner.
IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “These were potentially missed opportunities to pursue gross misconduct investigations against Carrick, which may have led to his dismissal years before he was eventually arrested.
“We will now be investigating the conduct of the officers involved in these cases, and at the end of our investigations we will determine whether they should face disciplinary proceedings.”
The officers being investigated range in rank from police constable to chief inspector, said the IOPC. The Met said five of the officers were still serving, while two had retired and one was working in another force.
The IOPC’s probes centre around four separate allegations made against Carrick before his arrest in October 2021 but for which he never faced disciplinary action.
In one case, a former partner made an allegation of harassment against Carrick in 2002, during which time he was a probationary constable.
Carrick - who was handed 36 life sentences for his crimes in February, confirming him as one of Britain’s worst-ever serial rapists - was only spoken to by his line manager.
In three other cases in 2016, 2019 and 2021, separate police forces investigated Carrick over allegations of stalking, harassment and rape, but decided to take no further action.
The Met was made aware of the claims and started misconduct probes, said the IOPC, but did not progress them, meaning Carrick never faced disciplinary action over the allegations until his arrest.
Ms Palmer said the IOPC was “deeply concerned” to also discover that in two of the cases, Carrick’s name was removed from the Met’s system after criminal investigations were dropped, meaning they did not show up when later allegations were made.
This meant Scotland Yard was “unable to build a complete picture of his pattern of offending,” she said.
A Met spokesperson said it had written to the IOPC in January to ask it to review its handling of the allegations, and that it welcomed the watchdog’s independent investigations.
“We are absolutely committed to identifying and rooting out those who corrupt our integrity and have no place in policing,” said the spokesperson.
“We welcome the important role that independent scrutiny has to play in improving our practices in this area as we work determinedly to rebuild trust and confidence in the Met.
“In addition to the IOPC investigation, we are also continuing to support the work of the independent inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini which, as part of its wider terms of reference, is examining the extent to which Carrick’s conduct and crimes were known and investigated at the time.”
