Met Police detective cleared of misconduct in David Carrick probe, tribunal told
Carrick, 51, from Stevenage, is one of the country’s worst sex offenders
A tribunal has heard a Metropolitan Police detective, accused of failing to oversee an investigation into serial rapist David Carrick, has been cleared of gross misconduct.
Carrick, 51, from Stevenage, who previously served as an armed officer in the same force, is one of the country’s worst sex offenders and is currently serving 37 life sentences after attacking more than a dozen women.
Officer A, line-managed by Detective Sergeant Ray Mackennon, was appointed to investigate Carrick in August 2021, after a woman told police that Carrick had raped and assaulted her several times during their five-month relationship, a misconduct hearing in south London heard.
Today (Friday), a panel cleared Det Sgt Mackennon of gross misconduct after finding that none of the allegations raised against him were proven – including that his alleged failure to oversee the investigation stemmed from an “unconscious bias” towards the complainant’s gender or race.
“At the relevant time, Det Sgt Mackennon did not fail in his duties,” panel chairman Commander Jason Prins told the tribunal hearing.
In 2021, Det Sgt Mackennon worked as a detective constable within the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) and had “a large workload of approximately 150 cases and had oversight of about half of those”, the tribunal was told.
It was alleged Det Sgt Mackennon had failed to ensure Officer A adequately investigated the allegations against Carrick made by the woman referred to as Female E – including by failing to ensure officer A contacted Female E, and by approving a “streamlined” investigation for Carrick’s misconduct proceedings.
However, the panel heard the decision was made after Female E “made it clear” she wanted to stop the criminal investigation into Carrick, who was a serving police officer at the time, as she did not feel “mentally strong enough” to continue.
“Of crucial importance was the fact that Female E had withdrawn her support to the police investigation into her allegations against David Carrick,” Commander Prins said.
This led to the criminal investigation by Hertfordshire Police being discontinued.
The panel chairman added it was “therefore not unreasonable” for Det Sgt Mackennon to rely on the force’s assessment that there were “no further lines of inquiry to investigate” in relation to Carrick.
He added that, in the summer of 2021, the case of Carrick “did not have the level of scrutiny that would subsequently come about”.
“Det Sgt Mackennon had a very large number of cases at the time and this may have impacted the amount of attention Det Sgt Mackennon was able to afford this case,” Commander Prins added.
Dt Sgt Mackennon previously told the tribunal during his evidence the DPS was “probably the most overwhelming department I had ever worked in” – having transferred over to the DPS from Counter Terrorism.
He had also told the panel it was “often the case” that a misconduct investigation against a police officer would be “streamlined” if the corresponding criminal investigation was discontinued.
In 2022 and 2023, Carrick pleaded guilty to 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes against 12 women over 17 years.
In November last year, he was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old child in the late 1980s and repeatedly raping and abusing a female ex-partner.