David Carrick: Victims of serial rapist officer to sue Met Police

Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 charges, relating to 85 offences, including 48 rapes

Victims of former police officer and serial rapist David Carrick are planning to sue the Metropolitan Police.

Carrick was sentenced to 36 life terms in February after admitting 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape, against 12 women while he was a serving officer.

Six of the women have accused the Met of breaching the Human Rights Act by failing to properly investigate.

The Met confirmed the force received letters of claim earlier this year.

Carrick, who served in the force for two decades, had previously come to the attention of police over nine incidents, including rape allegations, between 2000 and 2021.

His trial heard he would "use his power and control" to stop victims reporting him, with one stating it was "drilled into" her that he was a police officer.

Lawyer for the six women suing Carrick, Debaleena Dasgupta of the Centre for Women's Justice, told the Times newspaper the women wanted to know what they could do to help prevent the same thing happening to someone else.

The women claim the police repeatedly missed chances to stop Carrick.

A Met Police 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."

The force has previously been sued by two rape survivors, who successfully argued its failings to protect them from the taxi driver John Worboys had breached the Human Rights Act.

In a landmark 2014 judgement, the High Court awarded the two women damages of more than £40,000.

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