David Carrick sentencing: Rape victim told by nurse to 'put it behind her and move on'

One of the rape victims of a former Metropolitan Police officer was advised by an A&E nurse not to report him, a court has heard.

David Carrick, 48, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, is being sentenced after pleading guilty to dozens of rape and sexual offences against 12 women over an 18-year period.

His sentencing began on Monday and is taking place over two days at Southwark Crown Court.

It heard that a woman raped by Carrick was told by a nurse not to report the incident.

Watch: Serial rapist David Carrick sacked by Metropolitan Police

Prosecutor Tom Little KC said the woman, known as victim one, went to King's College Hospital in London with external and internal injuries after being raped by Carrick.

She had bite marks, bruising and clumps of hair missing, the court heard.

“She was asked who had raped her and she told the nurse that it was a police officer," said Mr Little.

“(The victim) told the police that the nurse in A&E told her that she needed to be ready if she was going to complain about it and that even if she did it might not go to court.

“She said as she was young, she might be better to try to put it behind her and move on.

“As a result, (the victim) did not report the matter to the police at the time.”

The court heard that she had met Carrick in a London bar in 2003.

He told her he was "the safest person that she could be with" before taking her back to his flat nearby, Mr Little said.

Once there, Carrick held a black handgun to her head and said, "You are not going", before repeatedly raping her, the court was told.

Mr Little said: “She bit his arm and he put his hand behind the bed. He searched for something and then put a black handgun to her head, which was the item he found behind the bed, and said to her “you are not going”.

“She froze. The prosecution does not contend that it was a real firearm. (The victim) couldn’t say whether it was or not.”

Read more: David Carrick case - is the Metropolitan Police damaged beyond repair?

During the attack, Carrick put his hands around her throat and said he would be the last thing she saw.

Mr Little said they then went to his sitting room where “he talked to her about her parents as if nothing in the last few hours had happened at all”, before raping her again.

The court heard later that one of Carrick's victims said an A&E nurse had told her it wasn't the first time she had heard that a police officer had raped somebody, and “unfortunately didn’t think it would be the last”.

The victim added that the nurse had told her “the law tend to protect their own”.

The court heard that Carrick carried out "a catalogue of violent and brutal sexual offences".

Mr Little said the women were "vulnerable", with some “appreciably older or younger than” Carrick.

He used security cameras in his home to monitor his victims, one of whom was shut in a small cupboard under the stairs as punishment while Carrick was “whistling at her as if she was a dog”, the court heard.

He also sent one of his victims a photograph of himself with a work-issue gun, with the message: “Remember I am the boss”, the court heard.

One woman was left feeling suicidal and “physically and mentally exhausted” after dropping from dress size 14 to size 6 in the six months after meeting Carrick on dating app Tinder, the court was told.

He would watch her remotely using cameras installed at his home, cut her off from friends and family members and control how much she ate and when she slept, the prosecutor said.

Carrick's crimes were carried out while he served in the Met, which he joined in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009.

The officer, who guarded sites including embassies and the Houses of Parliament, took training courses, including one on domestic abuse in 2005, the court heard.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb is expected to sentence Carrick on Tuesday after he previously pleaded guilty to 49 charges relating to 12 women between 2003 and 2020.

They include 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.

Some are multiple-incident counts, meaning they relate to at least 85 separate offences, including at least 71 sexual offences and 48 rapes.

He denied a further count of rape in September 2020 relating to a 13th woman, whose allegation triggered the investigation, with the Crown Prosecution Service deciding it was not in the public interest to proceed to trial.

The Met was forced to apologise and admit Carrick should have been rooted out earlier after it emerged he came to police attention over nine incidents – including allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment – between 2000 and 2021, with all but one of the incidents relating to his behaviour towards women.

Carrick faced no criminal sanctions or misconduct findings and police chiefs across England and Wales have since been asked to have all officers checked against national police databases by the end of March.

He was finally sacked from the force last month after pleading guilty and being unmasked as one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.

Carrick’s crimes are set to form part of the independent inquiry looking at the murder of Sarah Everard, who was raped and strangled by then-serving Met officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021.

Watch: Prime minister says David Carrick should never have been a police officer