We’ll be closing our live page shortly, but you can read the news story here and there's a fuller piece looking at the background to the case here.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues we've been reporting on today, you can find support at: bbc.co.uk/actionline

Dominic Casciani
Legal Correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Today's televised sentencing of David Carrick will have been for many a unique insight into the detailed and very upsetting evidence that a Crown Court hears when a judge must deal with the most serious sexual offenders.

Shortly before the sentencing, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales told me the introduction of cameras had been a major leap forward in helping the public understand the difficult work judges do on behalf of society.

Speaking to the BBC, Lord Burnett said: "To my mind, it has been an unalloyed success. It's one of those things which I think is beginning to enable people to understand much more about what happens when people are sentenced for serious offences."

"While there are some very good people doing very good work" in the police, "cases like this and abuses like this really expose the culture that exists", Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women's Aid, tells BBC News.

A "prevailingly misogynistic and sexist" culture within the Metropolitan Police means "women have lost considerable trust" in the force, she says.

She calls for "action to be taken" - "real scrutiny around who's coming into the police, real scrutiny of the culture, training, we need for violence against women to be prioritised", not just within the Met but "all forces across the country".

"The system is just not set up to support women who have experience sexual violence, any form of violence against women and girls or domestic abuse," she says.

She adds that having more female officers trained to deal with reports of violence and abuse "to help survivors tell their stories" would help.

Nazeer says more training is needed to bring about a "culture shift" as a priority for all forces across the country, who need to deal urgently with "how they're positioning women and how seriously they're taking women. It needs to be absolutely prioritised when it comes to training".

Let's look back at what Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said in her sentencing of serial rapist and former police officer David Carrick:

• The ex-Metropolitan Police firearms officer was told he would spend a minimum of 30 years and 239 days in prison - a tariff which takes account for the time he's already spent in custody
• The judge said she thought carefully about a whole-life sentence (meaning Carrick could never be released from jail), but said the threshold was not met, noting that he had admitted his crimes
• Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb recounted graphic details of Carrick's offences against a dozen women, calling him a "monster" who had wrought "irretrievable devastation" on his victims
• She laid out the themes of his offending - including his knowledge that his job as a police officer meant he felt "untouchable" and could get away with his crimes
• The judge also acknowledged the impacts of Carrick's offending on his victims - both physical and psychological - and acknowledged their reluctance to report him, owing to Carrick's job

Remember that you can get help from the BBC Action Line if you've been affected by any of today's reporting.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley continues his statement by describing Carrick’s crimes as “unspeakably evil” and “harrowing” in detail.

Image source, PA Media

Following Carrick’s sentencing, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has vowed to “earn back the trust and confidence of women”.

He acknowledges that the force has “let down women across London” but that it is “more determined than ever to put it right”.

He says he will “rid the Met of those who corrupt our integrity by bringing the same intensive investigative approach to identifying wrongdoing in our own ranks as we do to identifying criminals in the community”.

However, he adds that addressing these issues will take time, “but we will be determined and relentless in rooting out the corrupt”.

“We need the support of Londoners to get through it," he says.

He adds that on 31 March the Met will share the progress it has made “on rooting out those who corrupt our integrity".

Image source, Reuters

Det Insp Iain Moore, who led the investigation into David Carrick, says the serial rapist’s controlling nature was apparent from the outset.

"He wanted to control how the interview went. He wanted to be in charge, and when there were difficult questions posed, that's when it became difficult for him," says Moore, who led the investigating team from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit.

Once Carrick was finally charged, Moor says he "thought there's got to be something else out there".

And there was.

There had already been multiple potential missed opportunities to stop Carrick across his 20 years as a police officer, with numerous complaints made over the years, but none resulting in charges until now.

Carrick’s victims also described how he used his job to stop them reporting him.

Read more about how the case against Carrick unfolded here.

Image source, .

Similarly to the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) praises the bravery of Carrick's victims in coming forward and giving evidence in the case against him.

In a statement read outside court, Peter Burt, Senior District Crown Prosecutor for CPS Thames and Chiltern says that "overcoming" what the women "endured may have felt insurmountable at times".

He adds that "the similarities between the accounts" of Carrick's many victims meant there was such a "strong case that Carrick had no choice but to plead guilty".

Again echoing the police, the CPS says it fears there are other victims out there and "hope" that "seeing Carrick behind bars will help other people come forward".

Speaking outside court after Carrick's sentencing, police praised the "courage of the victims" for putting a "serious and prolific sex offender behind bars".

"Each one showed bravery to face Carrick in court," Det Insp Iain Moor, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit said.

Distancing police from the actions of the officer, Det Insp Moor said Carrick "brought shame on the profession and was not fit to wear the uniform".

"Nobody is above the law and we will take action."

Fearing that there could be yet more victims of Carrick who have not yet come forward, Mr Moor said a reporting portal has been set up to let them share information.

Dominic Casciani
Legal Correspondent

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb talked today about whether Carrick could be subject to a "whole-life order" - meaning no chance of ever leaving jail.

These rare sentences have so far been reserved for the worst of murderers.

In 2020, the Court of Appeal reviewed how to deal with two serial rapists. It refused to impose whole-life terms that day - but left the door open.

The prosecutors who advised today's judge on an appropriate sentence for Carrick did not argue for a whole-life term - a recommendation Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb accepted.

But she pointedly noted the parallels between Carrick and Wayne Couzens - the police officer who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard.

He got a whole-life term because he grotesquely abused his position as a constable.

Carrick could challenge his minimum term - and a member of the public could also petition the Attorney General to send it to the Court of Appeal for being too short.

Image source, PA Media

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has also released a statement on Carrick’s sentencing, describing his crimes as “a scar on our police”.

She also pays tribute to the “brave women who have come forward to hold him to account for his vile abuse”.

The home secretary says it is vital to uncover how he was able to wear the uniform so long, and welcomes the Angiolini Inquiry, external.

“There is no place in our police for such heinous and predatory behaviour, and I look forward to receiving Lady Elish’s findings,” Braverman says.

Most of Carrick’s crimes were committed in Hertfordshire, where he lived, and it was that police force's investigation which led to him pleading guilty and today's life sentence.

Detective Inspector Iain Moor says he is “extremely relieved” that “a serious and prolific sex offender is now going to be behind bars for a very long time”.

He describes the investigation as “very long and challenging”, and thanks his officers as well as victims “who were prepared to relive their ordeals and face him in court”.

Det Insp Moore says Carrick has “brought shame on the profession and was not fit to wear the uniform” - adding that investigations into his conduct will continue.

Hertfordshire Police has set up a special reporting portal to allow people to continue to share information about Carrick and his crimes.

The portal can be accessed here., external

In his statement following the sentencing of former Met Police officer David Carrick, London Mayor Sadiq Khan pays tribute to the “bravery and courage” of those victims who come forward

Khan says they have helped “to protect the public and rid the Met Police of a dangerous and prolific offender who abused his position as a police officer in the worst possible way”.

The mayor also says “there can be no hiding place for those who abuse their position of trust and authority within the police”, saying that anyone who wants to speak out under the new Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, should feel comfortable to do so, and that any allegations would be “taken seriously and handled sensitively”.

“I urge people to come forward to report any unacceptable behaviour,” he says.

Image source, PA Media

Some reaction to bring you now from the Mayor of London who says Carrick "abused his position as a police officer in the worst possible way".

Sadiq Khan says: “This should never have been allowed to happen and must never happen again.

"There can be no hiding place for those who abuse their position of trust and authority within the police.

“I support the renewed action being taken by the Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to review past misconduct cases and I welcome the widening of the Angiolini Inquiry to consider Carrick’s crimes and look at vetting and recruitment procedures and the extent of misogynistic culture in policing.

Reacting to Carrick's sentencing Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women's Aid, tells BBC News that while the disgraced officer's prison time is an "acceptable sentence in a very, very unacceptable situation", she says it comes "17 years, 12 victims and at least and 85 offences too late".

Ms Nazeer praises Carrick's victims saying the jailing of the 48-year-old was only possible due to the "courage, commitment and determination of those women who went up against an agent of the law".

She continues: "It is very hard to do that, even when you're not up against a police officer. The courage and bravery should be commended and that will send a message to other women in that situation that justice can be achieved."

During her sentencing remarks Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb made a point of saying she would not impose on Carrick a whole-life order - a sentence which would have meant he would never have been released from prison.

She said the threshold for such a punishment was not met.

The judge said a "just and proportionate punishment" would have been a life sentence with a minimum term of 60 years.

But, acknowledging Carrick's guilty pleas, she applied a 20% discount, and deducted a third from the resulting term of 48 years.

From the remaining 32 years, she subtracted 491 days - the time Carrick has already spent in custody - meaning that the time he will have to serve in prison before being considered for parole is 30 years and 239 days.

Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court

The judge passed a lengthy sentence reflecting Carrick's brutal offences over nearly two decade against a large number of women.

She praised the bravery of his victims for coming forward.

As for Carrick - he showed no emotion as he was asked to stand. All eyes were on him in the centre of the glass dock.

Flanked by two security guards, Carrick didn't even flinch as the judge read out the tariff for each one of his offences.

The judge clearly thought carefully as to whether his role as a serving Met Police officer was enough of an aggravating factor to warrant a rare whole-life sentence.

But, she agreed with the prosecution that the offending didn't quite meet that threshold.

Either way, Carrick will be in his late 70s by the time he could be considered by the Parole Board for release.

We have heard a lot of distressing detail about David Carrick's offending including graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

If you have been affected in any way by anything you have read on this page today or seen in the live stream of the judge's remarks, you can get support from the BBC Action Line.

The court rises, bringing proceedings to an end.

The former Metropolitan Police officer admitted to 85 offences against 12 women, over a period of 17 years.