David Carrick: Officers who failed to investigate a rapist will keep their jobs

Two police officers who failed to investigate an abuse allegation against serial rapist David Carrick have received final written warnings and will be allowed to keep their jobs.

Insp David Tippets and PC Emma Fisher of Wiltshire Police faced a disciplinary committee for handling a complaint against Carrick, who was then serving with the Metropolitan Police, in 2016.

The allegation was made five years before the former police officer was first arrested.

An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which prompted the hearing, found that had officers searched for Carrick’s name in the crime records system, they would have found that he was under investigation for the abuse of another woman.

In February 2023, Carrick was sentenced to a minimum term of 30 years in prison for 49 violent and sexual offences, including 24 counts of rape against twelve women.

At the heart of the allegations of misconduct was a 2016 call from a citizen who reported that Carrick had abused another woman.

The complainant wanted Carrick to be investigated.

PC Fisher was assigned to the case and requested its closure after speaking to the woman who reported the case.

Insp Tippetts, her superior and then police sergeant, agreed with the decision.

PC Fisher subsequently updated the computer system to advise that the woman who reported the allegation had stated that the case had been investigated some time ago, although there was no record of any previous investigation.

None of the officers reviewed the system or took further steps to resolve the case.

Carrick’s alleged victim was also never contacted about the allegation, the IOPC found.

Although PC Fisher and Insp Tippets were informed that Carrick was a serving officer, they did not inform the Metropolitan Police’s Directorate of Professional Standards of this serious allegation.

They also failed to seek advice from their own professional standards department.

In addition, the criminal police should also have been informed so that investigators could visit the woman who made the accusation again and contact the alleged victim.

Mel Palmer, regional director of the IOPC, said: “No one but David Carrick is to blame for his horrific series of offences.”

The watchdog ruled that Wiltshire Police had “missed an opportunity” to investigate Carrick after a report was prepared years before his arrest.

Constable Fisher was found to have “made or taken minimal effort” in investigating Carrick and was found to have breached police policy by failing to communicate her concerns to CID.

The panel concluded that both officers had violated standards of conduct relating to duties and responsibilities and behaved dishonorably and that their actions constituted misconduct.

They then received a final written warning valid for two years.

Craig Dibdin, Wiltshire Police’s deputy chief constable, said: “This is a clear case of failure by officers to investigate the allegations made against them.

“This lack of service was exacerbated by the lack of adequate supervision and control by a manager.

“While it would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing IOPC investigation, the public will naturally have questions about what impact this inaction may have had on Carrick’s heinous offences after 2016.

“I would like to apologize unreservedly to the person whose report we did not initially investigate as intended.”