David Carrick rape victim calls for Met police chief to resign after legal claim

Linda Williams, 60, who has waived her right to anonymity, was attacked by serial rapist and former officer Carrick in 2004.

Carrick, 51, who previously served as an armed officer in the Met, is one of the country’s worst ever sex offenders and is currently serving 37 life sentences after attacking more than a dozen women.

Ms Williams, from Hertfordshire, has called the way she was treated by the Met throughout her legal claim “devastating” and said it drove her to contemplate suicide.

Her case against the Met has now been settled for an undisclosed six-figure sum without the force admitting liability.

She said: “The whole process has taken me right back to how I felt when I was raped by Carrick, controlled, abused and powerless.

“If I was raped tomorrow, I wouldn’t report it.

“Both the criminal justice process and the civil process have been so traumatic.

“I say that as someone who was once a sexual offences officer, supporting victims myself.

“Despite that experience and my understanding of the system, I still wouldn’t report it because of the complete lack of empathy and support I have experienced from the police.

Ms Williams says change can only happen in the Metropolitan Police if Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley goes (PA)

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“At no point did I feel they sincerely acknowledged that I had been through a horrific sexual attack and that the trauma of that had deeply scarred me, or their role in it all.

“They used the fact that I just got on with my life as best I could after the rape against me.

“I was an exemplary officer and continued to perform well at work, and they relied on that to suggest I had shown no signs of psychological trauma.

“As far as I am concerned, it is Mark Rowley, the Commissioner, saying these terrible things as he was the defendant in the case.”

Ms Williams also alleged that it was “the Met’s fault” that she could not report the rape in 2004, and that “little had changed” in the culture since then.

She explained that the force was “like an episode of Life On Mars” and that she would have been “the officer who alleged I had been raped by a fellow officer”.

“I wouldn’t have had the back up of my colleagues in dangerous situations and ultimately, I doubt anything would have been done about Carrick,” said Ms Williams.

David Carrick (Hertfordshire Police/PA)

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She reported the attack in 2021, and said she has had no relationships since the attack 22 years ago.

Ms Williams said: “After the attack, I couldn’t face the thought of being with a man or even having somebody in my home.

“That makes for a lonely Christmas and no holidays.

“It’s my choice but the reason behind it wasn’t my choice. That’s down to the attack. Carrick stole the future that I wanted.”

Following her lengthy legal dispute, she now wants to see changes to the support systems in the Met, and wants a new unit to be set up, overseen by victims.

She also said she has spoken to officers trying to set up similar systems who had met resistance from the force who already provide “enough support”.

Ms Williams said: “Mark Rowley will say they are doing everything they can to stop violence against women and girls, I disagree.

“The Met need to set up a unit overseen by victims like me who understand what it is like to be raped.

“For this to happen Rowley needs to go and we need a new commissioner.”

Linda Williams reported the attack in 2021 (Black Letter Communications/PA)

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Sophie Bullimore, a solicitor from Penningtons Manches Cooper who represented Ms Williams, said: “My client is an extremely impressive woman, who has shown incredible strength since the assault and throughout this process; however her life has been forever changed and more than 20 years after the attack, the impact on her mental health and daily living is still stark.”

She added that the “time it has taken” to reach a settlement has resulted in Ms Williams taking long-term sickness from the police and has asked that the Met “review” how they deal with cases like this in future.

In 2022 and 2023, Carrick pleaded guilty to 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes against 12 other women over 17 years.

In November last year, he was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old child in the late 1980s and repeatedly raping and abusing a female ex-partner.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “David Carrick was responsible for the most appalling offences and as we have said previously, we are truly sorry for the harm and suffering he caused his victims.

“He should never have been a police officer.

In 2022 and 2023, David Carrick pleaded guilty to 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes against 12 other women over 17 years (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

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“Serious flaws in the way we approached such investigations at the time meant we did not spot his pattern of abusive behaviour.

“As a result, we missed opportunities to pursue him through the misconduct process. We deeply regret this.

“We recognise the unique and additional impact on DC Linda Williams, whose exposure to Carrick came as a result of her being a Met officer.

“Her continued commitment to public service, in spite of the trauma she experienced, is commendable.

“Throughout subsequent legal proceedings, the Met has tried to reduce further distress and re-traumatisation to DC Williams’ welfare and has aimed to deal with her claims as quickly and compassionately as possible.

“The Commissioner has previously met with DC Williams in person as well as spoken to her via email on multiple occasions.

“He has repeatedly acknowledged that she has shown courage in speaking out about her experience in an effort to drive forward necessary change and in now waiving her anonymity to continue to do so.

“He has contacted DC Williams to ask whether she would be willing to meet again and further discuss these issues in person.”