Heraldo de Madrid - UK court starts sentencing of ex-London policeman for serial rapes

David Carrick, a long-serving officer in London's Metropolitan Police, has admitted 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes, against 12 women.

Beginning her sentencing of Carrick, the judge, Bobbie Cheema-Grubb, said he had taken "monstrous advantage" of women he "brazenly raped and sexually assaulted."

She said that he believed himself to be "untouchable" and that his position as a police officer afforded him "exceptional powers to coerce and control."

The court heard on Monday that his offences merited a life sentence with a fixed minimum term.

Carrick used his status as a police officer to initially reassure women and begin relationships, before subjecting them to what the prosecutor called "a catalogue of violent and brutal sexual offences".

"He frequently relied on his charm to beguile and mislead the victims in the first place, and would then use his power and control, in part because of what he did for a living, to stop them leaving or consider reporting him," prosecutor Tom Little told the court on Monday.

Carrick often humiliated the women, including locking them naked in a small cupboard, urinating on them and whipping them.

In statements read out by the prosecutor, his victims said they felt "trapped" by him and "don't trust the police any more".

During the trial, it emerged that police had records of multiple complaints and allegations involving Carrick's behaviour towards women, but he never faced a disciplinary hearing.

- 'Must do better' -

He was sacked from the police only last month after pleading guilty in court.

Interior Minister Suella Braverman said Monday that it was "clear that policing must do better".

She added that she had asked police forces to strengthen vetting, and "standards need to rise so that cases like these... become a thing of the past".

The Met, Britain's biggest force, has apologised for failing to act on the prior allegations levelled against Carrick, who served in an armed unit protecting MPs and foreign diplomats.

The force's Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said ahead of the sentencing that "we failed to identify a man in the ranks... who carried out the most awful offences".

"He should not have been a police officer," she added.

The force admitted last month that on average two to three officers faced criminal charges in court every week.

The Met has responded to Carrick's case by setting up an investigative team to target staff suspected of domestic abuse or sexual offences.

It is reviewing all current officers and staff who have faced such allegations that did not result in charges or misconduct hearings.

Anger and distrust towards the police has mounted since the murder of Londoner Sarah Everard during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2021 by an off-duty police officer, Wayne Couzens, who raped and strangled her.

Carrick served in the same VIP protection unit as Couzens, who has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail.

M.Arroyo--HdM