A victim of serial rapist policeman David Carrick has told Sky News how he used his job as a firearms officer to gain her trust before subjecting her to months of physical and mental abuse, telling her: “The safest place you can be is with me.”
This article contains details of abuse that some people may find distressing.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, the woman said Carrick boasted about his job in the Metropolitan Police, but later went on to repeatedly rape and assault her over the course of their relationship.
The former firearms officer also shot the victim’s young daughter with a BB gun, causing injuries “because he said she was being naughty”, the woman said.
She said Carrick’s controlling behaviour included him starving her and her daughter and placing several surveillance cameras around his home to track their movements while he was at work.
“He would only allow me to have two protein bars a day because he wanted me to be weak and he would watch us on the cameras while he was at work. His eyes were always on us,” she said.
“Once I started eating a pack of blueberries, but he called me and went mad screaming ‘What do you think you are doing?!’
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“He said he could see me on the cameras eating something I shouldn’t be.”
The victim said Carrick used to boast about protecting the Queen at Windsor Castle and Barack Obama when he was US president on state visits and how he regularly used to protect prime ministers.
Carrick met the victim on a dating app and immediately said he was a police officer to gain her trust.
“At first, he was the dream man. He was so charming. But over time that changed. His eyes changed. He was evil.
“I have no idea how someone so f***** up can be a police officer, never mind give him a gun. If he shot anyone I wouldn’t be surprised.”
The victim said she was introduced to his Met colleagues at a pub in London for off-duty drinks but was not allowed to talk.
“When I started to speak to his friends he would stop me,” she said.
“He didn’t want me talking to anyone. A couple of his colleagues reached out to me after that. A couple have been in touch since his arrest as well.”
Repeated rapes over months
The woman was one of many victims who lived with Carrick at his home during their relationship.
Shortly after moving in, Carrick bought permanent window shutters so no one would see in or out.
The victim told Sky News: “In the morning I wanted to get up and start working but he wouldn’t let me. He closed the shutters and said I had to rest because of what he would do to me later. He said he wanted me to have energy.
“He was so manipulating – he knew what he was doing.”
Carrick repeatedly raped her over the course of several months, causing injuries, and urinated over her.
“After he raped me, he would say: ‘Don’t pretend you didn’t want it as much as me.’
“He was such a horrible person. He used to drink wine bottles at a time, saying work was stressing him. He said he hated foreigners.
“One time I wanted to see my friend dying in hospital of cancer and he just told me to let him die.”
Women’s refuge refused to help
The victim said she reached out to a local women’s refuge but that it refused to help after hearing Carrick was a police officer.
She eventually ran away from the house when Carrick was at a wedding because it would be unlikely he would be monitoring the surveillance cameras.
Carrick tried to track her down after she escaped, but she managed to avoid him.
The woman came forward to police when she saw a news report that Carrick had been arrested for rape. “I just burst out crying,” she said.
Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 offences including rape, false imprisonment and possession of a weapon.
The victim’s daughter said: “I know this sounds weird, but I was angry when he pleaded guilty. I wanted to have the chance to tell my story.”
The pair are receiving trauma therapy but say they want to move on with their lives after Carrick is sentenced in early February.
“He doesn’t deserve to ever get out of prison,” the victim said.
A woman has suffered life-changing injuries after being stabbed by a member of the public at the accident and emergency department where she was working.
The victim – believed to be a nurse in her 50s – was attacked at Royal Oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester, where she is now being treated.
It is understood she was injured with a bladed article or a sharp instrument – and not by a knife.
Officers were called at 11.30pm on Saturday.
A 37-year-old man is in custody after being “swiftly arrested at the scene” on suspicion of attempted murder, Greater Manchester Police said.
Detectives are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident and say there is no threat to the wider public.
Jim McMahon, the Labour MP for the area, described it as a “senseless attack”.
He posted on Facebook: “We are all shocked at the senseless attack on a nurse in the A&E department of the Royal Oldham Hospital.
“Our thoughts are with the nurse, family and friends as we wish a full recovery.”
Detective Sergeant Craig Roters said it was a “serious incident which has left a woman in a critical condition”.
The victim’s family and colleagues will be supported, he added.
The local community can expect to see an “increase in police presence” while enquiries are carried out, Mr Roters said.
“We know that news of this nature will come as a shock, and if you have any concerns or anything you would like to share, please speak to [officers].”
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.
It comes after the current Bangladeshi leader, Muhammad Yunus, said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated.
He told the Sunday Timesthe properties should be handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch said: “It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq.
“He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”.
Her aunt was ousted from office in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership and fled to India.
On the same day, the prime minister said: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.
“It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.”
Police in Aberdeen have widened the search area for two sisters who disappeared four days ago in the city.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV on Market Street after leaving their home on Tuesday at around 2.12am.
The sisters – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – crossed the Victoria Bridge to the Torry area and turned right on to a footpath next to the River Dee.
They headed in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club but officers said there is no evidence to suggest the missing women left the immediate area.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and a marine unit have been trying to trace the pair.
Further searches are being carried out towards the Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbour and Duthie Park.
Police Scotland said it is liaising with authorities in Hungary to support the relatives of the two sisters.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Eliza and Henrietta’s family are understandably extremely worried about them and we are working tirelessly to find them.
“We are seriously concerned about them and have significant resources dedicated to the inquiry.”
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Officers have requested businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review their CCTV footage for the early morning of Tuesday 7 January.
Police added they are keen to hear from anyone with dashcam footage from that time.