Wiltshire Police 'missed opportunity' to stop serial rapist David Carrick

Two Wiltshire Police officers who failed to properly investigate an allegation of abuse by serial rapist - and former officer - David Carrick have been disciplined.

Inspector David Tippetts and PC Emma Fisher have been given final written warnings following a probe by the police watchdog.

The IOPC says closing the case early was a 'missed opportunity' to arrest him five years before he was eventually detained.

The investigation began in July 2023, following a voluntary conduct referral from Wiltshire Police, established that a woman called Wiltshire Police in January 2016 to report that Carrick had abused another female.

She wanted Carrick, a serving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer, to be investigated.

PC Fisher was assigned to the case, and after speaking in person to the woman who made the report, requested the case be closed and her supervisor, Inspector Tippetts - who was a Sergeant at the time - agreed.

PC Fisher updated the force’s computer system saying the woman said the matter had been investigated some time earlier.

In fact, it had not been investigated and no record of a previous investigation could be found on Wiltshire’s systems.

If the officers had searched for David Carrick’s name on Wiltshire Police’s crime recording system they would have found he was under investigation - in an unrelated case – for offences against another woman, which had been reported three days earlier.

Despite being told that Carrick was a serving Met Police officer, the officers did not notify the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards of the serious allegation made against him, nor did they seek advice from their own Professional Standards Department about next steps.

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.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said:

“No one is to blame for David Carrick’s horrific spate of offending but him.

“However, our investigation found there was a missed opportunity by Wiltshire Police officers to investigate him following a report of a serious abuse allegation made years before he was eventually arrested.

“PC Fisher took minimal investigative action. She didn’t try to contact the victim of the reported crime, flag to the Met a serious allegation against one of its officers, or search David Carrick’s name on Wiltshire Police’s systems. This would have shown that Carrick was already under investigation following another a report of a serious offence three days earlier.

“PC Fisher requested the investigation be closed following minimal work or effort, and her supervisor, PS Tippetts, agreed and - contrary to the force’s policy - failed to flag any concerns to colleagues in CID who specialise in investigating serious allegations.”

The panel considered the officers had made an isolated error and there was no evidence they had acted deliberately or with premeditation.

Both officers also had shown remorse and made admissions at an early stage to their failures.

In response to the findings, Wiltshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Craig Dibdin said:

“This is a clear case of officers failing, in the most basic sense, to properly investigate allegations made to them.

“This failure in service was compounded by a lack of proper oversight and scrutiny by a supervisor.

“Whilst it would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing IOPC investigation, clearly the public will have questions as to the impact this inaction might have had on Carrick’s vile offending after 2016.

“Our communities must have the trust and confidence in us to listen to them, investigate any allegation made to us without fear or favour and keep them fully updated as to the actions we are undertaking.

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

“We will ensure that, organisationally, we will share all the learning emanating from this case to improve the service we provide.

“I also want to reiterate our plea to our communities – whenever you have concerns regarding a member of Wiltshire Police – please report these to us. We will take robust action against anyone whose conduct falls short of our expectations.

“We also routinely encourage all members of the Force to use an anonymous reporting tool if they have concerns regarding a colleague’s behaviour.”

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