David Carrick, a former Metropolitan Police officer already notorious as one of the United Kingdom’s most prolific sex offenders, has received his 37th life sentence after being found guilty of a fresh wave of sexual crimes. The verdict, delivered at London’s Old Bailey on November 20, 2025, marks a grim milestone in a case that has shocked the public and shaken faith in the institutions meant to protect them.
According to the BBC, the 50-year-old Carrick was convicted of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the late 1980s, when he himself was just 14. Decades later, he raped a former partner during what the court described as a toxic and controlling relationship. The new convictions—five counts of indecent assault, two of rape, one of sexual assault, and one of coercive and controlling behavior—add to an already staggering tally: Carrick had previously admitted to 71 offences of sexual violence against 12 women over a 17-year period and was serving 36 life sentences with a minimum term of 32 years.
During sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan minced no words about the impact and futility of the new penalty. “The sentence I impose today will have little if any practical effect,” she said, referencing the fact that Carrick’s earliest parole eligibility shifts by just one year—from 2054 to 2055, by which time he will be 78 years old. Yet, the judge stressed the symbolic weight of the verdict, noting Carrick’s “lack of remorse” and his “cynical” insistence on forcing witnesses to relive their trauma in court by denying the charges.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court that Carrick’s offences against the child had to be treated as those of a juvenile, given his age at the time. However, he emphasized that any mitigation was “limited in its nature.” The earliest parole date had already been set, but the new sentence ensures Carrick remains behind bars even longer, however marginal the extension may seem.
The crimes themselves paint a harrowing picture. Jurors heard how Carrick systematically abused the young girl for approximately 18 months, a period that ended only when she confided in her mother. In a confession letter recovered from his medical records and signed “Dave,” Carrick admitted the abuse, writing that the girl was “not crazy” and that it was “true,” but claiming he had stopped about four months before the letter was written. “I know how [the girl] must feel. That’s why I stopped and promised I would never go near her again and I have kept that promise and I always will,” he wrote, as reported by The Independent.
Yet, the confession went unacted upon for years—a failure that Mrs Justice McGowan said had dire consequences. “The confession was not acted on in a way that may have prevented you from attacking and raping many other women. They were the first examples to come to light of your disposition to commit predatory sexual crimes,” she told Carrick in court. The judge also recognized the “courage and resilience” of the victims, who were compelled to give evidence due to Carrick’s persistent denials.
The woman Carrick abused as a child provided a victim impact statement that was read aloud in court. “I don’t believe David has any remorse... I don’t think I will ever be able to trust anyone completely. The effects of these offences are not something I can simply move on from,” she said, as reported by BBC and Sky News. The trauma, she explained, had “followed me into adulthood,” making it difficult to trust or form relationships. The public revelations about Carrick’s actions forced her to relive her ordeal, severely impacting her mental health.
The second victim, a woman who met Carrick through a dating website, initially found him “charming, witty, sarcastic” and like “everyone’s best friend.” But as their relationship progressed, he became controlling, manipulative, and violent. She testified that Carrick raped her multiple times and subjected her to degrading abuse. In her statement, she said, “I did not get the chance to learn love in the way most people do—I learned survival instead. I fight through fear, through memories, through the exhaustion trauma leaves behind.” She added that Carrick had “ruined” her life and tainted her views on sex and relationships, leaving her to grieve for the life she might have had.
Throughout the trial, Carrick denied the allegations, at one point accusing the now-adult child victim of lying and insisting that sex with his ex-partner had been consensual. He even suggested, during a police interview, that the woman accusing him was motivated by the MeToo movement. But after five hours of deliberation, the jury convicted him on all counts.
The scale and duration of Carrick’s offences have triggered widespread outrage, not just at his actions but at the systemic failures that allowed him to continue offending for so long. According to Sky News, public anger erupted in 2023 when it was revealed that repeated opportunities to stop his offending were missed while Carrick served as a police officer. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 2001 and became an armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit in 2009—a position of trust and authority that he exploited to devastating effect.
Senior Crown prosecutor Shilpa Shah described Carrick as “a manipulative, controlling and abusive man. He was aggressive, abusive, violent, and yet he appeared to be charming and charismatic. He didn’t count on his victims coming forward and exposing him as they have, and I’d like to thank them for doing so.”
Detective Superintendent Iain Moor of Hertfordshire Constabulary, reflecting on the long-delayed justice, said the outcome might have been very different had Carrick’s 1990 confession been handed to police at the time. He expressed satisfaction at finally securing justice for the victims and urged others who may have suffered in silence to come forward. “Hopefully, people are starting to feel more confident to come forward and report matters to the police. I think there’s still more work to do,” he said, according to The Independent.
Looking back, Mrs Justice McGowan summed up the tragedy of the case: “Your behaviour as a sexual predator began when you were a child yourself,” she told Carrick. She highlighted his pattern of bullying and manipulation, both as a teenager and as an adult, and criticized his “cynical willingness” to force victims to relive their trauma in court.
The Carrick case stands as a chilling reminder of the catastrophic consequences when those in power abuse their positions—and when warning signs go ignored. For the victims, the scars remain, but their courage in coming forward has ensured that Carrick’s crimes will not be forgotten, nor will the failings that allowed them to continue unchecked.
