Officials who failed to investigate serial rapist David Carrick can keep their jobs

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation into PC Fisher and Sgt Tippetts in July last year following a report from Wiltshire Police.

Police reviewed their systems after Carrick’s conviction and found a report from 2016 that had apparently not been adequately investigated.

The report revealed how a woman called police in January 2016 to report that Carrick had abused another woman.

She said she wanted Carrick, an armed officer on active duty with the Metropolitan Police, to be investigated.

PC Fisher was assigned to investigate and, after speaking to the woman, requested that the case be dropped, which her superior, Sergeant Tippetts, agreed to.

None of the officers checked police systems or conducted any further investigations, and the woman identified as the victim of the abuse was never contacted.

The IOPC said if officers had searched for Carrick’s name in Wiltshire Police’s crime records system, they would have found that he was being investigated – in a separate case – for offences against another woman that had been reported three days earlier.

Despite being told that Carrick was an active Metropolitan Police officer, PC Fisher and Sgt Tippetts failed to notify the Metropolitan Police Professional Standards Directorate.

‘Missed opportunity’

After a disciplinary hearing, both officers received a final written warning but were allowed to keep their jobs.

Mel Palmer, IOPC regional director, said: “No one but David Carrick is to blame for this series of appalling crimes.

“However, our investigation found that officers at Wiltshire Police missed an opportunity to investigate him following a report of serious allegations of abuse years before his final arrest.

“PC Fisher took minimal investigative action. She made no attempt to contact the victim of the reported crime, failed to inform the police of any serious allegations against any of its officers or searched for David Carrick’s name in Wiltshire Police’s systems.

She added: “PC Fisher requested that the investigation be closed after minimal effort and her superior, Sergeant Tippetts, agreed and failed – contrary to police policy – to raise any concerns with colleagues in CID who specialise in investigating serious allegations.”

Officials fail “in the most fundamental sense”

Craig Dibdin, assistant chief constable of Wiltshire Police, said: “This is a clear case of officers failing, in the most fundamental sense, to properly 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 IOPC’s ongoing investigation, the public will naturally have questions about what impact this inaction may have had on Carrick’s heinous offences after 2016.

“The people of our communities must trust us and trust that we will listen to them, investigate all allegations made against us without discrimination and keep them fully informed of our actions.

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

“We will ensure that we share any learnings from this case at an organisational level to improve the service we provide.”