The former police officer and convicted sex offender David Carrick has been handed a 37th life sentence at the Old Bailey with a minimum of 30 years for molesting a 12-year-old girl and raping a former partner.
Carrick, 50, who served as an armed officer in the Metropolitan police, sexually assaulted the 12-year-old child when he was a teenager in the late 1980s, his trial heard. More than 20 years later, he repeatedly raped a woman and subjected her to “degrading and humiliating” abuse during the course of a toxic relationship.
Mrs Justice McGowan sentenced Carrick for the fresh convictions on Thursday after he was found guilty of two charges of rape, one of sexual assault and coercive and controlling behaviour towards the woman between 2014 and 2019, and five counts of indecent assault relating to the girl in the late 1980s. His life sentence has a minimum term of 30 years and is to run concurrently with his 36 other offences.
Carrick’s offences came to light after he pleaded guilty in 2022 and 2023 to 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes, against 12 other women over 17 years. He was handed 36 life sentences in 2023 for these crimes with a minimum term of 32 years.
Carrick denied the fresh allegations but declined to give evidence.
Sentencing, Justice McGowan recognised the “courage and resilience” of the victims. She also noted Carrick’s “cynical willingness” for the two women to be forced to give evidence in court due to his continued denial of wrongdoing.
Of the sexual assaults on a child when Carrick was aged 14 or 15, the judge said: “They were the first examples to come to light of your disposition to commit predatory sexual crimes. I have no doubt that you are dangerous and the life sentences on an earlier occasion are fully merited.”
In statements read to the court, the victims described the trauma from Carrick’s abuse and the shadow it has cast on their lives.
The woman who was molested as a child had difficulty trusting people and forming relationships, the court was told. She said: “The public revelations of David’s actions caused me to relive my trauma which severely impacted my mental health. I do not believe David has any remorse for his actions. He tries to blame his past home life for what he has done. Although his actions and the depravity are now known the impact on my life is far from over.”
The woman who was raped by Carrick said: “I did not get the chance to learn love in the way most people do – I learned survival instead. I fight through fear, through memories, through the exhaustion trauma leaves behind.”
During the trial, jurors heard how Carrick had abused a young girl for about 18 months before she told her mother what was going on. He confessed in a letter signed “Dave”, which was recovered from his medical records, that stated that the girl was “not crazy” and that it was “true”.
Despite this, Carrick dismissed the historic child abuse allegations, claiming the girl was a liar.
Giving evidence in court, the victim said: “When I heard he was a Metropolitan police officer, the words I have always used were: ‘God help anyone with him with a warrant card.’”
The second victim met Carrick through a dating website and was aware from the start he was a police officer. At first, she said, she found him “charming” but during their relationship he became controlling and he raped her on multiple occasions.
When interviewed in Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire, Carrick claimed that sex with the woman was consensual and accused her of being motivated by the #MeToo movement.
After the verdicts, senior crown prosecutor Shilpa Shah said: “I would describe David Carrick as a manipulative, controlling and abusive man who created a facade for the rest of the world so that no one would realise what he was doing behind closed doors.
“He didn’t count on his victims coming forward and exposing him as they have, and I’d like to thank them for doing so.”
Police have urged any other victims of Carrick’s sexual offending to come forward.
