David Carrick Victims

Case background and investigation

David Carrick joined the Metropolitan Police in 2001 and, according to the sentencing remarks of Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, moved in 2009 to the unit responsible for diplomatic protection, where he routinely carried a firearm. The BBC reported that he served with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command and lived in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where most of his offences took place.

According to the sentencing remarks, a woman reported on October 1, 2021, that Carrick had raped her, and he was arrested and charged on October 3, 2021. No evidence was ultimately offered on that particular count and a not guilty verdict was entered, but the judge noted that publicity about his arrest led other women to come forward. The BBC reported that he was suspended from duty after his arrest and that the investigation was led by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.

Carrick initially pleaded not guilty. The BBC reported that he admitted 43 charges in December 2022 and the remaining six at Southwark Crown Court on January 16, 2023, making 49 offences against 12 women, including 24 counts of rape, as well as false imprisonment, sexual assault and controlling and coercive behaviour. The offences were committed between 2003 and 2020. The judge said the charges represented at least 71 instances of sexual violence, and that he had referred to his job as a police officer when offending. The BBC reported that he met some of the women through dating sites.

On February 7, 2023, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb imposed 36 life sentences and set a minimum term of 30 years and 239 days, after allowing a 20 percent reduction for the guilty pleas.

The Metropolitan Police apologised. The BBC reported that Carrick had come to the attention of police over nine incidents between 2000 and 2021, and quoted Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray as saying the force had missed opportunities to remove him. In July 2023 the Independent Office for Police Conduct announced investigations into how reports made about Carrick in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2021 had been handled, along with a separate investigation following a referral from Wiltshire Police.

After the 2023 sentencing two more people came forward. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, an Old Bailey jury in November 2025 found Carrick guilty of five counts of indecent assault against a girl who was 12 at the time, in 1989 and 1990, and of two counts of rape, one of sexual assault and one of controlling and coercive behaviour against a woman. Press reports state that the offences against the woman took place between 2014 and 2019 and that on November 20, 2025, Mrs Justice McGowan imposed a further life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years, to run concurrently. Carrick had denied those charges. The victims in both cases are protected by law from being identified.