High up London cop turns out to be a serial rapist. What a surprise.

A Metropolitan police officer has been revealed as a serial rapist who committed more than 71 serious sexual offences, despite the force being told of repeated allegations over two decades that he was a threat to women.

Well twenty years isn’t that long, and you don’t want to rush these things. It’s better to wait and see how it all plays out.

PC David Carrick, an armed officer in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, admitted on Monday to 49 counts – some detailing multiple offences, against 12 women.

Police and prosecutors say he exploited his position as a Met officer to lure women, then terrorise them into staying silent about his sexual attacks and degradation of them.

The scale of offending by Carrick, 48, spanning 17 years, makes him one of the worst sexual offenders in modern criminal history.

He pleaded guilty to the final offences against him on Monday at Southwark crown court, allowing reporting restrictions to be lifted.

He’s one of the worst sexual offenders in modern criminal history (that we know of) and he’s a cop. Brilliant.

After more than a year of pre-trial hearings covered by tight reporting restrictions, Carrick pleaded guilty to the final six charges on Monday, having pleaded guilty in December to 43 charges.

In all Carrick admitted 49 charges, some of which detailed multiple instances of offending.

In total the Met officer entrusted with a gun and guarding some of the country’s most sensitive sites pleaded guilty to 24 counts of rape, nine counts of sexual assault, five counts of assault by penetration, three counts of coercive and controlling behaviour, three counts of false imprisonment, two counts of attempted rape, one count of attempted sexual assault by penetration, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of indecent assault.

…

Police suspect Carrick had other victims who have yet to come forward, or who told detectives of the Met officer’s attacks on them but could not face the ordeal of a trial, which is notoriously gruelling for victims of sexual violence.

And not likely to succeed anyway.

Harriet Wistrich, of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “All these revelations in the context of the wider picture that has been revealed of misogyny within the Met is seriously undermining of women’s confidence in the police …

“[Carrick’s] crimes, along with a significant number of other Met police officers, reveals the a deeply rotten misogynistic culture that has been allowed to exist within the Met.”

These are hate crimes more than they are sex crimes.

Now the reporting restrictions have been lifted, the Guardian can reveal part of the until now secret reason Cressida Dick was ousted as Met commissioner in February 2022 by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, was the Carrick scandal, as details emerged of his offending and possible Met errors.

Oh that’s interesting.

In a statement Khan, who is also the police and crime commissioner for London, said: “Londoners will be rightly shocked that this man was able to work for the Met for so long and serious questions must be answered about how he was able to abuse his position as an officer in this horrendous manner.

“The work to reform the culture and standards of the Met has already started … But more can and must be done, including acting on the findings of the forthcoming Angiolini inquiry, and I will continue to hold the Met to account as they work to implement the reforms needed.”

Fine, but he needs to unsack Joan Smith. She’s been reporting on this subject for decades.