The mother of rapist Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick has said it is possible he exaggerated his childhood trauma to reduce his sentence.
Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences, including 48 counts of raping 12 women. He was sentenced to 36 life sentences at Southwark crown court on Tuesday and will spend at least the next 30 years behind bars for his 17-year crime spree.
In her sentencing comments, the judge, Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb, said the firearms officer had told a police officer about the childhood trauma experience.
But Carrick’s mother Jean, who watched the sentencing live, said she was distressed that her son had described his upbringing as traumatic. The 67-year-old, who is estranged from Carrick, said: “That bit really hurt me. I don’t want people to think he was neglected. It was never neglected. Never.”
Asked why he thought Carrick had characterized his childhood as such, he said: “I think it was to try and reduce his sentence. I might be wrong, I don’t know.”
Sentencing Carrick, Cheema-Grubb said: “You described childhood trauma to the officer which must have affected your personality. You grew up with parents who drank too much and neglected you. When they separated, you were the target of abuse from a stepfather in your teenage years. Like any child, you should have been nurtured and taught moral strength and you weren’t.”
But Jean said her son had not been telling the truth. “That’s not true,” he said. “There was no abuse that I can think of, unless I was out at the time, but I can’t imagine it. Most of the time I was at work and he was at school.
“The quote about me and his father drinking is not true. He was never neglected, and his stepdad was only there for a few years with him and as far as I know they got along fine.
“He did taekwondo and we went to all the things with him and he got up to a black belt. We went to all the games with him, everything. As far as I know he had a very good life.”
She said Carrick also enjoyed family holidays abroad and going on French exchange trips.
Asked if he thought he deserved his sentence, he said: “Actually. At least he didn’t get a lifetime fare. When he goes up for parole, they probably won’t let him out if he lives that long.”
She added: “I feel a bit numb really, it’s mixed emotions.”
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Carrick’s parents divorced when he was a teenager and his mother began a relationship with another man, who moved into the family home. Jean said her son cut off all contact with her about 15 years ago.
The judge said Carrick’s defense team did not submit or rely on any psychiatric or psychological reports during the proceedings.
He added: “As an adult, you abused alcohol yourself, although you could and did take care not to when you were working. This shows that you were able to control yourself when you chose it. There is no mental health problem beyond the inevitable depressing impact of custody.”
He described a suicide attempt by Carrick as “a self-pitying reaction to the shame this process has caused you, rather than remorse”.