Serial rapist David Carrick stripped of state-funded Met police pension

Serial rapist David Carrick has been stripped of his state-funded Metropolitan Police pension.

Carrick, who was unmasked as one of the UK’s worst sex offenders and convicted of crimes against 12 women over 17 years, will lose 65% of his pension, estimated to be more than £10,000 a year, which was contributed by the force.

If the former officer is released from prison he can still receive 35%, his personal financial contribution.

The London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) made a pension forfeiture application to the Home Office after Carrick was jailed for at least 30 years in February last year, a move backed by Scotland Yard.

Sadiq Khan said: “David Carrick blatantly abused his position of trust as a police officer to carry out his appalling crimes.

“I have been very clear that steps should be taken to remove the employer contributions of his Met Police pension and it has now been decided that David Carrick will lose all these employer contributions.”

Home Office guidance states pension forfeiture can only be applied for when an officer has a conviction “committed in connection with their service as a member of a police force”.

The offence must be certified by the Home Secretary as “liable to lead to a serious loss of confidence in the public service” or “gravely injurious to the interests of the state”.

Such applications are usually made after a police officer has committed a crime while on duty.

Mr Khan had the final say on the forfeiture.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Officers who commit serious crimes should not be entitled to their full police pension.

“David Carrick’s crimes led to a serious loss of confidence in the police, and that is why he will forfeit the employer’s contribution to his pension.”

Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “We know that David Carrick used the fact he was a police officer as part of his offending, in particular to exercise even greater control and coercion over his victims and to instil fear in them about what might happen if they came forward to report his terrible crimes.

“We reiterate our apology to them that he was able to do so for so long.

“We have worked closely with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime so that an application could be made to the Home Secretary for pension forfeiture in this case.

“Offending of such an appalling nature must have wide reaching consequences and it is right that the decision has been taken to subject Carrick to the maximum pension forfeiture allowed in law.”

Carrick was formally dismissed from the Met in January last year after pleading guilty to a total of 49 offences, including 24 counts of rape, against 12 women between 2003 and 2020.

He joined the force in 2001 before becoming an armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit in 2009.