Ex Met officer David Carrick sentencing

[NyanBinaryJohn]

He's just been sentenced.

Pleaded guilty to 85 offences
Been given 36 life sentences
Will serve a min of 30 years

That works out as less than a year per life sentence. Can someone explain to my non legal brain how this works? How can someone commit that many offences, be given that many life sentences but quite possibly not serve life in prison (depending on whether he'll live to at least 78).

I think it means he has to serve 30 years before he is able to apply for parole. It is unlikely it would be granted but it might be depending on his behaviour in prison. Whole life tariffs are only for particularly heinous murders.

It's a pathetic sentence but hopefully as an ex-copper and serial sexual offender the next 30 years in jail will be particularly horrid for him

I get that he can't apply for parole for 30 years. However, why does the legal system refer to life sentences when they categorically aren't life sentences?

36x life ≠ life.

36 individual life sentences is not enough for someone to actually serve for life?

Without even focusing on his crimes, that logically make no sense.

He'll be on license for life. He doesn't get to be 'free free' ever. He serves out the remainder of his life and his life sentence under strict conditions 'on the outside' if he is ever granted parole.

I doubt he'll survive till he's 78 / 79 years old to be able to apply for it.

Politicians make the laws that govern sentencing and they create the sentencing guidelines. Judges have relatively little discretion in the matter. The 30-year tarrif means he must serve 30 years before he is eligible to apply for parole.

It was a 32 year tariff apparently, minus time served while held on remand. Hence the '30 years and 239 days' before he can apply for parole.

I listened to part of the sentencing speech from the judge. It was very long and complicated. Sounds like the judge has meticulously applied the sentencing rules/guidelines and she explained why it didn't meet the criteria for a whole life tarrif.

But the thought of such a dangerous man ever being freed in society is quite horrifying. Some of his crimes were so bad they couldn't be reported on TV. According to Sky News.

It's a hell of a lot better than I was expecting.

I watched the sentencing. It was 60 years with 20% off for pleading guilty I think which reduced it to 48 years. Then there were further mitigating factors which brought it all the way down to 30. But the initial sentence was 60 years. The judge also explained why she couldn’t give a whole life tariff.

30yrs in prison will give him a long time for reflection. I hope he gets to a stage where he can work out why and how he turned into the person that degraded and tortured these poor women.

Were there earlier signs of this aggression and dominance in his early years? Was he actively encouraged to go into the services/police because of these traits? Did he become more entitled in his views towards women after joining the police? Without police intervention, how could he have stopped himself from turning into this abuser?

I knew someone who was attacked with a hammer by her boyfriend, he attacked his stepdaughter as well. They were both left with devastating, life changing injuries.

His sentence was 7 years for one and 5 for the other. The judge ordered them to be served concurrently rather than one after the other. He was out in three years, our legal system is an absolute joke.

Thank you for all the responses. That does actually help with my understanding.

@Greensleeves That really only highlights how low our expectations are.

@electricmoccasins There were mitigating factors? Good grief. I think I'd rather not know what they are...

@lunar1 I'm so sorry to read that. 3 years out of the 10 years given. That is terrifying.

I know realistically this guy won't be alive by the time his 30 years are up. Suicide or murder by another inmate seem fairly likely options for him. Still, it all feels very minor in comparison to the number of lives he will have affected. These women will be traumatised for life. Actual life, through no fault of their own. At least he can be held responsible for how he gets to live for the remainder of his life: behind bars and, at best, with severe restrictions if he ever gets released.

He hasn't actually been given an end sentence. The 30 years is the earliest he can apply for parole. If this is granted then he will be released on licence where he will be monitored and certainly on the sex offenders register. If he is not granted parole he will be kept in prison potentially for the rest of his life, as I understand it. I think this is probably as close to a whole life sentence as the guidelines would allow.

But yes, it is common in this country to serve sentences concurrently rather than consecutively. In the US they do consecutive sentences which is why you sometimes hear of people over there being sentenced to hundreds of years.

This is worth a read

"As the detective who inspired TV’s Prime Suspect, I know this: the misogyny of David Carrick lives on"

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/07/detective-prime-suspect-misogyny-david-carrick-rapist-victims-met-officers

The Met (and other police forces) are in a mess

surprised he lived to get to trial tbh

i work in a men’s prison. The amount of times they try to kill themselves is an eye opener

bet he’s tried, his life inside will be miserable. Protected and rejected. Grim times for mr carrick

Naively, I had no idea that concurrent sentences were a thing. That’s really shocking. Like a buy one get one (or more) free for rape or murder? Sorry if that sounds flippant, but it’s no more flippant than the justice system appears to be.

There is good money in betting Carrick never gets to 78 and apply for parole. This is death sentence and given the scope of his offending, no grounds for appeal.

He deserves his time, however long it turns out to be

Another met officer arrested for rape today..

The “profession” seems to be a magnet for the worst scumbags out there.

DH was telling me that he heard a senior policing figure on the radio saying that it was likely that we would now be seeing 4 or 5 criminal prosecutions of police officers a week. But to reassure us, apparently, he said that a lot of these would only be for organised crime!

He did try. He cut his neck, wrist and groin. So a serious attempt. He was then moved from Belmash to Rampton for a few months. Then the Psychiatrist said he had no mental illness and he was returned to Belmarsh on 24 hours observation. Oh the irony, since that is what he did to one of his victims. He had cameras all over the house and monitored throughout the day on his mobile phone, even abusing her verbally through the camera system. I really like the idea of him being controlled and constantly monitored (I am not the type of person who would take pleasure in such things usually, but this bastard is beyond the pale)!

I’m not sure if his 24 hour observation would be by a human remaining with him or cameras.

I'd hope that if he does get to 78 that whoever is in charge will refuse parole.

The judge in their summing up obviously wanted to present an absolutely watertight case for the length of the sentence so that any appeal will be quashed fairly quickly.

life sentence means even if released the offender is on licence until they die. In 30 years he can apply for parole and if unsuccessful he could remain in prison until he dies. Whole life order is when there is no right to parole. He has been given a life sentence for specific counts (offences) so I'd he appeals successfully 35 of them he will still have a life sentence for the 36th. They run alongside each other as it wouldn't make sense to have one after the other as he will be dead when the first ends

Should have thought of that before he started raping women.

Thinking about a life in prison is obvs not a deterrent.

He never thought he’d have to go to prison. Arrogance and protected by the boys club. He thought he was untouchable.