Watchdog investigating Met Police’s handling of serial rapist David Carrick

A watchdog has launched multiple investigations into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of serial rapist and former officer David Carrick.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating whether Met Police officers repeatedly failed to take appropriate action when criminal allegations were made against Carrick, who was handed 36 life sentences, with a minimum term of 32 years – minus his time spent on remand – in February after becoming one of the country’s worst ever sex offenders.

On Thursday the IOPC said it was launching four separate investigations into the conduct of eight Met Police officers and one staff member over apparent failures to progress misconduct investigations against Carrick after criminal investigations into his behaviour were dropped.

The watchdog said it has taken the “unusual step” after the Met Police did not identify any conduct matters during a review the IOPC asked the force to undertake last year into any reports which could have led to action being taken against Carrick sooner.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “David Carrick’s horrendous offending, which occurred over almost two decades while he remained a police officer, shocked the public and cast a dark shadow on policing, and we want to acknowledge the courage of his victims in reporting this offending.

“The nature and extent of his offending also raised serious questions about whether disciplinary action should have been taken against him when serious allegations were made about his behaviour.

“The police forces did not record any conduct matters arising from their handling of allegations against Carrick, however we identified indications some officers may have behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings.

“Our review has identified repeated failures to progress conduct investigations when the Met’s Department of Professional Standards (DPS) officers were advised that no further action was being taken by the forces carrying out the criminal investigations into Carrick.”

Carrick, who joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009, used his position to gain his victims’ trust and scare them into silence.

He pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape, but some were multiple-incident counts – meaning they relate to at least 85 separate offences, including at least 71 sexual offences and 48 rapes.

One of the IOPC’s investigations will look at a 2002 allegation of harassment made against Carrick when he was a probationary constable by a former partner.

This allegation was investigated by the Met Police but no referral was made to its DPS – which investigates the conduct of MPS officers and staff – and Carrick was only spoken to by his line manager.

The IOPC will also be looking into a 2016 report of harassment and stalking made by a former partner, which was investigated by Hampshire Constabulary, but no further action was taken in respect of the alleged crimes, but Hampshire made the Met’s DPS aware of the allegations made against Carrick.

The watchdog will probe the handling of a 2019 report of a woman being attacked and dragged out of Carrick’s house by him, which was investigated by Hertfordshire Constabulary. No further action was taken in respect of the alleged crime but Hertfordshire made the Met’s DPS aware of the allegations made against Carrick.

And the IOPC is set to investigate the handling of a February 2021 report of a woman being raped by Carrick, which was initially recorded by Sussex Police and when Carrick was identified as the suspect, due to the location of the alleged offence, it was passed on to Hertfordshire Constabulary.

In the most recent three cases, misconduct investigations were started by the Met’s DPS but were not progressed after forces investigating the allegations against Carrick advised that no further action was being taken.

As a result, Carrick never faced disciplinary action for any of the allegations made and remained a police officer until his arrest in October 2021.

Ms Palmer said the IOPC was “deeply concerned” to find that in two of the cases, Carrick’s name was removed from the Met Police’s system records after the criminal investigations were dropped, which meant that some previous allegations made against him did not show up in the system and officers were unable to build a “complete picture of his pattern of offending”.

She added: “These were potentially missed opportunities to pursue gross misconduct investigations against Carrick, which may have led to his dismissal years before he was eventually arrested.

“We will now be investigating the conduct of the officers involved in these cases, and at the end of our investigations we will determine whether they should face disciplinary proceedings.

“The issue of forces not progressing conduct investigations against officers when no further action is being taken against them criminally is an ongoing area of concern that we highlighted nationally last year as a result of the joint investigation into the super-complaint regarding police perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA).

“Where there is not enough evidence to pursue a criminal case, misconduct should still be considered. This is because there are different standards, procedures and evidential requirements for disciplinary proceedings compared to criminal investigations.”

The IOPC probes were welcomed by the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ).

Debaleena Dasgupta, the solicitor at CWJ acting for six of Carrick’s victims, said it was “disappointing” that the Met Police did not identify that there might be misconduct matters arising.

She added: “It raises questions about the quality and depth of their internal investigation and their purported commitment to ensuring it does not happen again.”

The officers involved, some of whom have since retired and one who now works for another force, range in rank from police constable to chief inspector.

Six of the people being investigated were, at the time, from the Met’s DPS.

The watchdog has also recently begun an investigation into concerns that Wiltshire Police officers failed to properly investigate a report made against Carrick in 2016.

The Met Police said it wrote to the IOPC in January urging them to review the force’s handling of matters relating to Carrick and welcomed the review.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: “The IOPC had previously determined that they would not review forces’ overall handling of cases unless evidence of misconduct on the part of individuals had already been identified.

“However, given the seriousness of Carrick’s offending and the understandable degree of public concern it caused, we were anxious that this position was reconsidered.

“We welcome the IOPC’s subsequent decision to carry out that review. In addition to organisational failings we had already acknowledged, it has now identified conduct matters for eight officers and a member of police staff in relation to their handling of investigations in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2021.

“We are absolutely committed to identifying and rooting out those who corrupt our integrity and have no place in policing.

“We welcome the important role that independent scrutiny has to play in improving our practices in this area as we work determinedly to rebuild trust and confidence in the Met.

“In addition to the IOPC investigation, we are also continuing to support the work of the independent inquiry chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini which, as part of its wider terms of reference, is examining the extent to which Carrick’s conduct and crimes were known and investigated at the time.”