Victim of PC David Carrick to sue the Met in landmark legal bid: Mother who endured three years of hell after meeting rapist on Tinder blames force for ‘failing to investigate’ the disgraced officer who could have been stopped on NINE different occasions

• The constable, 48, was this week exposed as one of Britain’s most prolific rapists
• He made the victim clean his house naked and sexually assaulted her on walks

A mother-of-two who endured three years of hell at the hands of PC David Carrick is set to sue the Metropolitan Police in a landmark legal bid.

The constable, 48, was this week exposed as one of Britain’s most prolific rapists after admitting 49 charges against a dozen women, including 24 counts of rape, while serving with the force between 2003 and 2020.

The victim, who lives in Hertfordshire and would like to remain anonymous, blames the force for ‘failing to investigate’ the disgraced officer who could have been stopped on nine different occasions.

‘The police knew what he was like. They didn’t investigate properly,’ she told The Mirror.

A mother-of-two who endured three years of hell at the hands of PC David Carrick is set to sue the Metropolitan Police in a landmark legal bid

The constable, 48, was this week exposed as one of Britain’s most prolific rapists after admitting 49 charges against a dozen women, including 24 counts of rape

‘Nothing will change what happened to me and the other women but I want to take legal action because maybe that will make the police sit up and act in future.’

The woman met Carrick through Tinder in 2017 and described him as ‘someone I could trust’.

However, she told the newspaper how he became violent on their first date saying Carrick grabbed her by the neck and tried to lift her top. 

He also made her clean his house naked and sexually assaulted her on walks in the woods near his home.

Carrick forced her to take part in bondage and, after Wayne Couzens was arrested in 2021, threw away his sex toys.

She added: ‘People will be asking, “Why did she keep going back?” No-one knows how we feel unless they go through it. People being abused still go back to the abuser.’

A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘The duration and nature of Carrick’s offending is unprecedented in policing. 

‘But regrettably he is not the only Met officer to have been charged with serious sexual offences in the recent past.

‘Our work to identify and rid the Met of corrupt officers is determined and focussed.

‘As the Commissioner has said, we will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who are engaged in corrupt or criminal behaviour using all the available tactics and techniques at our disposal.’

The victim, who lives in Hertfordshire and would like to remain anonymous, blames the force for ‘failing to investigate’ the disgraced officer

The woman met Carrick through Tinder in 2017 and described him as ‘someone I could trust’

Carrick had faced complaints about his behaviour before he joined the force 22 years ago and numerous other times throughout his career, but no action was taken.

The 48-year-old – who used his position to win the trust of his victims and then intimidate them – was only suspended from duty in October 2021 when he was arrested for rape. 

His pay was finally stopped in December 2022 when he first entered guilty pleas.

Hertfordshire Constabulary, which led the investigation as some of Carrick’s victims were attacked at his home in Stevenage, said since details of his crimes emerged on Monday more people had contacted police, including through a dedicated page set up so any other potential victims could come forward.

The force said: ‘We have already received some information via the portal and our usual reporting channels, following Monday’s hearing.

‘We will be contacting everyone who has been in touch. Should any further offences come to light, they will be investigated accordingly and appropriate support will be provided if required.

‘We will not be providing further detail about the number or nature of these calls.’

The Carrick case plunged the Met into fresh crisis after a series of damaging scandals, including Sarah Everard’s murder, offensive messages exchanged by a team at Charing Cross police station and the strip-search of a teenage girl at school while she was on her period.

Police chiefs warned the legitimacy of the profession was ‘hanging by a thread’ and called for reforms to make it easier to catch other serving offenders.

However, she described how he became violent on their first date saying Carrick grabbed her by the neck and tried to lift her top

Carrick forced her to take part in bondage and, after Wayne Couzens was arrested in 2021, threw away his sex toys

Chief Constable of British Transport Police (BTP) Lucy D’Orsi expressed her shame and anger that a fellow officer had been free to carry out his 18-year campaign of abuse.

Humberside Police’s Chief Constable, Lee Freeman, called it ‘one of the darkest weeks for policing that I have known’ in his career of nearly three decades.

The head of Scotland’s police force Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone also said police need to ‘earn’ the trust of the public.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said weak policies and decisions meant the serial rapist was able to stay in the force for so long, adding the force had ‘let London down’.

More than 1,000 officers and staff at Scotland Yard who have previously been accused of domestic abuse or sexual offences are now having their cases reviewed.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised reforms to make sure rogue police officers have ‘no place to hide’.

At the same time, the Home Office announced all police forces have been asked to check their officers and staff against national police databases to ‘identify anyone who has slipped through the net’.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has also tasked the College of Policing with toughening police vetting.

Meanwhile, another watchdog review has been commissioned so His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) can check how forces have responded to its recent findings on vetting and corruption within the ranks to ‘make sure chief officers are taking the necessary action to remove those who are not fit to serve’.

A review of the police disciplinary system to make sure officers who ‘are no fit to serve the public’ and ‘fall short of the high standards expected of them’ can be sacked is also being carried out by Home Office officials.

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