UK cop admits to 71 sexual offences in one of the worst serial rape crimes

In what emerged as one of the worst serial rape crimes in Britain, a servingpolice officer of London's Metropolitan Police admitted to committing 71 sexual offences including 24 rapes against 12 women over the course of nearly two decades. The officer, David Carrick, served inScotland Yard. His crimes included patterns of sadistic abuse against women while he was serving with London's metropolitan force between 2003 and 2020.

Reports said that Carrick would flash his warrant card to "lure women into a false sense of security". He would tell them: 'I am a police officer, you can trust me', Daily Mail reported. After committing the offence, he would tell the victims that no one would believe their word against that of a serving officer.

The Met police apologised for failing to spot the offence by a serving officer.

"This man abused women in the most disgusting manner. It is sickening. We have let women and girls down and indeed we have let Londoners down," Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said in a statement.

"We have failed. And I am sorry. He should not have been a police officer."

A spokesperson for 10, Downing Street, the office of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, said that police must root out such officers to restore public's trust in the force.

"This is an appalling case and the prime minister's thoughts are with all of his victims," Sunak's spokesman said. "Police forces must root out these officers to restore the public's trust, which has been shattered by high profile events such as this."

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "sickened" by the case.

Operation Onyx: How David Carrick was nabbed?

According to a report in The Independent, London police launched a review of the past cases of sex offences and domestic abuse that did not result in prosecution or dismissals. The review, codenamed 'Operation Onyx', was commissioned in 2021 after an officer was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive.

The operation was codenamed 'Operation Onyx'. During the course of the review, it was discovered that Carrick was allowed to be in the force despite police being alerted to reports of rape nine times during the course of 2003 and 2020.

The Operation Onyx has uncovered 1,633 cases involving 1,071 officers and police staff.

The review came ahead of the scheduled review of police disciplinary processes by the UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

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