Rapist police officer David Carrick’s ‘lenient’ sentence to be reviewed

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Serial rapist and former Met Police officer David Carrick’s sentence is being reviewed after complaints it isn’t tough enough.

Carrick, 48, was on Tuesday handed 36 life sentences and told he would not be eligible for release for at least 30 years.

He was convicted of a range of offences, including dozens of rapes, while he was a serving officer.

Following the sentencing at Southwark Crown Court, the Attorney General’s Office said it had received “multiple requests” to review Carrick’s jail term.

“We can confirm we have received multiple requests relating to David Carrick’s sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme,” a spokesperson said.

Carrick’s sentence will now be considered for referral to the Court of Appeal, which deals with appeals from other courts.

The Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme allows prosecutors, victims of crime and their families - as well as members of the public – to ask for certain Crown Court sentences to be reviewed by law officers.

Carrick was accused of 85 offences in total, including more than 20 rapes against 12 victims between 2003 and 2020.

The judge said his conviction “represents a spectacular downfall for a man charged with upholding the law.”

Ms Cheema-Grubb said: “Behind a public appearance of propriety and trustworthiness, you took monstrous advantage of women drawn into intimate relationships with you.

“You brazenly raped and sexually assaulted many women, some you barely knew.”

On day one of Carrick’s sentencing hearing the court was shown pictures of a cupboard where he abused two of his victims.

Two women were kept in a small cupboard under the stairs at Carrick’s home in Hertfordshire - one 10 times - while others were urinated on or attacked with a belt.

Images submitted to the court showed the cupboard, which was only about 3 or 4ft high and a few feet wide.

In the case of one of Carrick’s victims, the former Met Police officer locked her in the cupboard for ordering a jumper he did not give her permission to purchase.

As a punishment, he locked her in the cupboard naked and would not let her out even when she began having a panic attack.

The court heard he refused and would instead “stand outside and whistle.”

Carrick’s offending means he is among some of the country’s most prolific rapists, alongside the likes of Reynhard Sinaga, who sexually abused over 200 men.

Sinaga and fellow rapist Joseph McCann - who carried out attacks in Hertfordshire, London and Greater Manchester both had their sentences increased from 30 to 40 years under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme following complaints that they had been let off too lightly.

Continuing her sentencing remarks, Ms Cheema-Grubb told Carrick he showed an “astonishing degree of moral corruption”.

Impact statements by victims were also read in court. One woman said she felt she had “encountered evil” after being raped by Carrick after meeting him at a bar in London.

He said “he was the safest person that she could be with and that he was a police officer” before taking her back to his nearby flat.

She “froze” when he put a black handgun to her head and said “you are not going” before repeatedly raping her.

During the attack, Carrick put his hands around her throat and said he would be the last thing she saw.

“That night I felt I had encountered evil,” she said.