Image source, Hertfordshire Police
- Author, Chloe Harcombe
- Role, BBC News, West of England
Two police officers who failed to investigate an allegation of abuse by the serial rapist David Carrick have been given final written warnings and will keep their jobs.
Insp David Tippets and PC Emma Fisher, of Wiltshire Police, faced a disciplinary panel over their handling of a complaint in 2016 against Carrick, a serving Metropolitan Police officer at the time.
The allegation was made five years before the former police constable was first arrested.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) probe – which prompted the hearing – found if the officers had searched Carrick’s name on the crime recording system, they would have found he was under investigation for abusing another woman.
In February 2023, Carrick was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for 49 violent and sexual offences, including 24 counts of rape against 12 women.
The misconduct allegations centred on a call in 2016 from a member of the public who reported that Carrick had abused another woman.
The complainant wanted Carrick investigated.
Closure of case
PC Fisher was assigned to the case, and requested its closure after speaking to the woman who reported it.
Insp Tippetts, who was her supervisor and a police sergeant at the time, agreed with the decision.
Afterwards, PC Fisher updated the computer system to say the woman who had reported the allegation said the matter had been investigated some time earlier, when there was no record of any previous investigation.
Neither officer checked the system, nor took any further steps to resolve case.
Carrick’s alleged victim was never contacted about the allegation either, the IOPC found.
Despite being told that Carrick was a serving officer, PC Fisher and Insp Tippets did not notify the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards about the serious allegation.
They also failed to seek advice from their own Professional Standards Department.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) should also have been informed to enable detectives to re-visit the woman who reported the allegation and to contact the alleged victim.
‘Horrific spate of offending’
Mel Palmer, the IOPC regional director, said: “No-one is to blame for David Carrick’s horrific spate of offending but him.”
The watchdog ruled there had been a “missed opportunity” by Wiltshire Police to investigate Carrick, following a report made years before he was eventually arrested.
PC Fisher was found to have demonstrated “minimal work or effort” to investigate Carrick, and she was found to have worked against the force’s policy by failing to flag concerns to the CID.
The panel concluded that both officers had breached the standards of behaviour relating to duties and responsibilities and discreditable conduct and that their actions amounted to misconduct.
As a result, they were given final written warnings lasting for two years.
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.
“I would like to apologise unreservedly to the person whose report we did not initially investigate as we should.”