David Carrick: UK cop charged with rape, was in same unit as Sarah Everard's killer
Seven months after Sarah Everard’s murder, a MET Police officer working in the same unit as murderer Wayne Couzens has been charged with rape. 46-year-old police constable David Carrick was also based within the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, and has now been charged with rape. Hertfordshire Constabulary arrested Carrick, who has been suspended, on October 2. He was scheduled to appear via video link at Hatfield Magistrates Court on October 4, Monday.
Carrick has been charged with one count of rape after allegedly attacking a woman on September 4 last year, and a referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. “I am deeply concerned to hear the news today that an officer from the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command has been arrested and now charged with this serious offence," Commissioner Cressida Dick said. "I fully recognise the public will be very concerned too. Criminal proceedings must now take their course so I am unable to comment any further at this stage.”
Breaking: a Met police officer has been charged with rape. 46 y/o PC David Carrick, with the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, was charged by Hertfordshire Police today. He was off-duty in Hertfordshire at the time of the offence. pic.twitter.com/8i4YY1rnsq
— Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables) October 3, 2021
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It is not clear as of now whether Carrick and Couzens were working in the Parliamentary Protection unit at the same time. Malcom McHaffie, from the CPS, said: “The CPS has today authorised Hertfordshire Constabulary to charge serving Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick, 46, with one count of rape following an alleged attack on a woman on the night of 4 September 2020. The defendant’s first court appearance will take place via video link at 10am tomorrow at Hatfield Magistrates' Court. The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has a right to a fair trial. "It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
What happened to Sarah Everard?
Previously, British police officer Wayne Couzens has pleaded guilty to the kidnap and rape of marketing executive Sarah Everard. 48-year-old Couzens also admitted to killing Everard but was not asked to enter a plea to a charge of murder. Everard, 33, was reported missing in Clapham, south London on March 3, sparking a major police investigation that intensified after her body was found in a woodland in Kent about a week later. The Metropolitan Police officer was seen wearing khaki trousers and a grey sweatshirt as he appeared in front of the judge via video link from Belmarsh jail. During the hearing, which lasted about half an hour, Lord Justice Fulford read out one count of rape and one count of kidnapping. Couzens kept his head down as he answered "Guilty, sir" -- admitting to kidnapping Everard "unlawfully and by force or fraud" on March 3.