Michael Tomlinson – 2023 Statement on the Sentencing of David Carrick

The statement made by Michael Tomlinson, the Solicitor General, on 3 March 2023.

David Carrick’s crimes were abhorrent, and the scale of his offending over so many years, and against so many women, will stay in our minds for years to come.

The fact he acted with apparent impunity – as though his status as a serving police officer made him untouchable – is a particularly disturbing factor.

Because of the strong feelings this case evokes, it came as little surprise that I received so many referrals under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to consider the term of 32 years minus time served handed to Carrick .

I have received full and detailed legal advice and considered the issues raised very carefully and concluded Carrick’s case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal.

Such a referral can only be made if the legal test is met, irrespective of the seriousness of the offending or the emotions the offending may evoke in all of us. But my duty as a Law Officer in considering whether sentences may be unduly lenient is to act quasi-judicially and independently of government, even when it is not easy or popular.

At sentence, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb described the “irretrievable devastation” Carrick has wrought on the women who were victims of his sickening offences, and I am satisfied that she gave careful and detailed consideration to all the features of this case. These include the seriously aggravating factor that David Carrick was a serving police officer and the impact of his horrendous crimes on public confidence in policing, particularly in relation to cases of rape and sexual violence.

She also had to consider the guilty pleas that were entered by David Carrick and the reduction in sentence guilty pleas attract.

The threshold for referral is a high one, and that was not met in this case. It is only met if the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range reasonably available in the circumstances of the offending.

My thoughts remain with the offender’s victims, and everybody affected by his despicable acts.