Victims of Metropolitan Police rapist David Carrick have revealed the impact of his abuse on their lives, with many still recovering mentally and emotionally from his attacks.
Carrick was in Southwark Crown Court where he is being sentenced after pleading guilty to 49 charges relating to a dozen women.
Victim one, who was raped by Carrick and had a gun pointed at her head, says she felt she had “encountered evil”.
“I honestly thought he was going to kill me that night,” she told the hearing.
“I kept seeing the gun he pointed at my head.”
The woman says Carrick’s attacks on her had “ruined relationships” in her life.
“This is something that has been with me in every relationship that I’ve been in so any time I got scared I ran,” the victim said.
“Since I contacted the police all the memories are right back with me, nightmares, flashbacks, and the general feeling of being disconnected to my own life. I remember who I was when I was 20 years old, I was starting to live my own life, I was saving to do my diploma and I was looking forward to the future.
“That one night stopped me achieving this as I didn't want to stand out at all and felt that I wanted to be invisible or just disappear.
“I feel that I had missed out on 19 years of my life because this man did this terrible thing to me, he took away who I was and left me lost in my own life.”
Another victim revealed how her life crumbled after Carrick’s abuse forced her into homelessness. She added that she frequently suffers from nightmares following her encounters with Carrick.
But despite this, she said: “Even being homeless was still better than being with Dave.”
Another of his victims said she felt “trapped” and “couldn’t see an escape” while he abused her.
Her statement read: “There are so many mental and physical scars that remain.”
She said Carrick made her feel like a “piece of dirt on his shoe” while he was “eliminating my support network”.
Many of the victims shared their fear of police officers and their hesitation to call the police even now if they were in trouble in case a male officer would come.
“The thought of being alone with a male officer makes me very anxious,” one victim said.
“I don’t think I could ever trust a male again because of what Dave did to me.”
The same victim added that she feels sick if she smells the aftershave he used to wear.
Carrick’s defence barrister, Alisdair Williamson KC, told the court his client “accepts full responsibility for what he has done”.
“The most tangible expression of that is in his guilty pleas,” he told the court.
Carrick, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, is due to be sentenced by Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb after previously pleading guilty to 49 charges relating to 12 women between 2003 and 2020.
