Women abused by serial rapist and former officer David Carrick are to sue the Metropolitan Police, according to reports.
Carrick, 48, was in February handed 36 life sentences for an “evil” catalogue of violence, control and abuse carried out against 12 women over nearly two decades as he worked as a PC.
Carrick, an elite firearms officer in the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, subjected his victims to degrading and humiliating abuse while using his status as a police officer to pressure and bully them into silence.
Six of his victims now plan to sue the force, claiming the Met missed opportunities to catch Carrick sooner, the BBC reports.
The Met has confirmed it has received a letter of claim from victims.
A spokesperson said: “Following David Carrick’s conviction we apologised to all his victims and more widely to women across London who felt we had let them down by failing to earlier deal with his sickening offending.
“On March 19 we received an initial letter of claim in relation to the case and on April 26 we received a further claim. It would be inappropriate to comment further while these progress.”
Carrick’s trial heard how one woman was repeatedly raped by him after he pointed a gun at her head and trapped her in his flat, while another woman recalled being sent an image of the PC’s police-issue firearm with the message “Remember I am the boss”.
It heard how Carrick locked one of his victims naked in a tiny cupboard and would beat her with a metal whip for “punishment”.
Another victim said Carrick rigged his home with cameras to monitor her movements from work, and called her his “slave”.
“I have never felt so humiliated, trapped and hurt in my life”, she told the court. “No one will ever understand how it feels unless it has happened to them, no one can judge you and the pain will never go away.”
The officer – nicknamed ‘Bastard Dave’ by colleagues - used his police status initially to charm women, telling one: “Trust me – I am the safest person you can be around”.
But many of the women told Southwark crown court they felt unable to report being raped and abused by Carrick as they feared they would not be believed.
Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb handed Carrick 36 life sentences. She ordered him to serve 30 years and 239 days in prison before he can be considered for release, on top of the time he has already spent in prison.
“Your conviction represents a spectacular downfall for a man charged with upholding the law and empowered to do so to the extent of being authorised to bear a firearm in the execution of his duty”, she said.
