Serial rapist and former Met Police officer David Carrick has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years.
The 48-year-old was sentenced after being found guilty of 49 offences, including 24 counts of rape, against a dozen women over 17 years.
Carrick, who joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009, used his position to gain the women’s trust and scare them into silence.
David Carrick was sentenced to life in prison today
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He held a handgun to the head of one of his victims and sent another a photograph of himself with a work-issue firearm, saying: “Remember I am the boss.”
In a televised sentencing, Justice Cheema-Grubb said Carrick had shown an “astonishing degree of moral corruption”.
She added: “These convictions represent a spectacular downfall for a man charged with upholding the law and empowered to do so even to the extent of being authorised to bear a firearm in the execution of his duty.
“Behind a public appearance of propriety and trustworthiness you took monstrous advantage of women.
“You brazenly raped and sexually assaulted a number of women, some very brutally, and you behaved as if you were untouchable.
“You were bold and at times relentless, trusting that no victim would overcome her shame and fear to report you.
“For nearly two decades, you were proved right but now a combination of those 12 women, by coming forward, and your police colleagues, by acting on their evidence, have exposed you and brought you low.
“You have lost your liberty, your job and your status. You have before you the prospect of a difficult time in custody for many years.”
David Carrick was handed 36 life sentences
Elizabeth Cook
Justice Cheema-Grubb said Carrick's actions were 'monstrous' after committing 'violent and brutal sexual offences' against a dozen women
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Carrick was handed 36 life sentences, with a minimum term of 32 years – minus his time spent on remand – after becoming one of the country’s worst ever sex offenders.
He pleaded guilty last year to 85 separate offences, including at least 71 sexual offences and 48 rapes.
The court heard Carrick had attempted to kill himself while on remand at Belmarsh prison and was detained in a secure hospital but was found not to be suffering from any mental disorder.
The judge told him: “You were driven to try to commit suicide as a self-pitying reaction to the shame brought on you by these proceedings rather than remorse.”
Reacting to the sentencing, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "The crimes of David Carrick are a scar on our police, and it is only right that he now faces at least 30 years behind bars. I pay tribute to the brave women who have come forward to hold him to account for his vile abuse.
"It is vital we uncover how he was able to wear the uniform for so long, and I welcome the Angiolini Inquiry’s investigation into David Carrick’s criminal behaviour and the decision-making around his vetting.
"There is no place in our police for such heinous and predatory behaviour, and I look forward to receiving Lady Elish’s findings."