Met officials will face court over their handling of the investigation

Four Metropolitan Police officers and a member of police staff face disciplinary action over their handling of allegations against serial rapist cop David Carrick, the police watchdog said.

Carrick was from Stevenage, Hertfordshire sentenced to at least 30 years in prison in February 2023 after admitting dozens of rapes and sexual offenses against 12 women.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said a detective, three officers and a police officer allegedly breached “police standards of professional conduct”.

Between 2002 and 2021, four reports of serious offenses were made against Carrick by former partners while he was working as a Met officer, the IOPC added.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said it had identified “several missed opportunities” where officials had failed to initiate misconduct investigations into Carrick.

“Had these matters been pursued appropriately, Carrick may have faced gross misconduct proceedings and been dismissed from the police force long before he was ultimately arrested,” she added.

The IOPC announced in July 2023 that it would conduct four independent investigations into actions taken by the Met after it emerged that former partners had lodged four serious crime reports against Carrick.

These included two assault and harassment reports from 2002 and 2016, an assault report from 2019 and a rape and sexual assault report from 2019.

In each case, the IOPC said either no further action was taken against Carrick or the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) was not informed.

“We have determined that a detective sergeant should face a gross misconduct hearing for possible breaches of police standards of professional conduct relating to his alleged failure to adequately supervise Carrick’s conduct of investigations,” the IOPC said.

“We also found that a detective and a police officer should face misconduct meetings.”

The IOPC said those facing disciplinary action were all working in the Met’s DPS at the time.

The Met said it was “truly sorry” for the harm Carrick caused his victims and that he “should never have become a police officer”.

“We have acknowledged that serious flaws in our approach resulted in our failure to recognize his pattern of abusive behavior and thereby missed opportunities to pursue him through the misconduct process. We deeply regret this,” said a spokesman.

“In addition to the IOPC investigation, we continue to support the work of the independent investigation Chaired by Lady Elish Angiolini, it will examine the extent to which Carrick’s behavior and crimes were known and investigated at the time.

The IOPC said it was preparing “learning recommendations” for all police forces in England and Wales regarding reviews and responding to off-duty conduct.

It also said it would add a mandatory “police committed” flag to crime recording systems.

Earlier this year, the Mayor of London confirmed that Carrick had done so deprived of his full state-funded pension.

Carrick joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit in 2009.

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court between 2003 and 2020 a total of 49 crimes, including 24 rapes.

The Met and the City of London Police, where one of the officers is now based, will launch disciplinary proceedings.