UK: London police officer sentenced to life in prison for dozens of rapes

The English judge pronounced the verdict on Tuesday life imprisonmentwith over 30 years of mandatory imprisonment, a former London agent who committed dozens of rapes in 17 years, in a new scandal exacerbating a crisis of confidence in the British police.

48-year-old David Carrick, who worked in a special unit to protect parliamentarians and foreign diplomats, confessed to 24 counts. rape 12 women between 2003 and 2020, and the same number about attacks and illegal detentions.

But some concern multiple crimes, almost fifty violations in total.

“You acted like you were untouchable,” “believing that no victim would overcome their shame and fear and come forward,” Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said.

He sentenced him to 36 life sentences and will not be able to ask conditional freedom before serving 30 years and 239 days in prison, he elaborated, highlighting “an impressive decline for the person in charge of enforcing the law.”

Carrick, who listened to the verdict with his head bowed and his eyes closed, used his position to gain the confidence of his victimswhom he raped for months, and in some cases for years.

He called them “slaves”, controlled them financially and isolated them from their loved ones. He locked them in a small closet under the stairs of his house for several hours without food.

“He liked to humiliate them and used his professional position to let them know that it was useless to ask for help because no one would believe them,” said Chief Inspector Ian Moore.

During the hearing, the prosecution spoke bitterly about his “systematic” attacks on some women that “they no longer trust the police.”

He met one of them in a bar in 2003, assured her she would be safe with him, before holding a gun to her head and repeatedly raping her.

Another she met on a dating site described a drunken “monster” forcing her to do chores naked.

A third reported that he whipped her, hissed at her like a dog, and treated her like an object that “belonged to him and had to obey him.”

crisis of confidence

Carrick, who was suspended from service, admitted “full responsibility for what he did,” his lawyer, Alisdair Williamson, said. But, according to the judge, he did not express remorse.

This case caused a new stir in Great Britain two years after the murder of 33-year-old London executive Sarah Everard, also committed by a police officer, seriously undermined the credibility of the British police.

Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Barbara Gray apologized to “the women who suffered at the hands of David Carrick”, praising his courage in his decision to testify.

“We should have detected his behavior, and because we didn’t, we missed the opportunity to remove him” from the body in time, he added. The case was referred to the internal control body for investigation of the incident.

During the hearing, it became clear that london police he became aware of several allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment against the officer, despite which no criminal sanction or disciplinary action was taken against him until his arrest in 2021 after the initial complaint.

once famous metropolitan police has been heavily criticized in recent years for the behavior of its officers, especially after the kidnapping, rape and murder of Everard in south London in March 2021 by Wayne Cousens, who also worked with the police squad. diplomatic protection.

This shocking incident Great Britain in complete isolation from COVID-19, showed that the police hierarchy had not heeded the numerous alarms about Cousins’ disturbing behavior.

A report released in November revealed shortcomings in the selection and supervision of police officers. london policeamong which misogynistic and sexist behavior was condemned.

The crisis of confidence is so severe that the headmistress of a famous London school asked her teachers to warn students that “they never let a policeman near them.”

AFP