UK police officer remanded in custody after rape charge

LONDON

A serving British police officer has been remanded in custody on Monday as he appeared in court after being charged with rape.

Police Constable David Carrick will appear at St Albans Court on Nov. 1.

The Metropolitan Police said Carrick was off duty at the time of the alleged rape, which reportedly occurred on Sept. 4, 2020.

The case drew attention to the police force once again after a former police officer was sentenced to a “whole life order” last week.

Wayne Couzens, 48, will spend all his life behind the bars after being found guilty of kidnapping, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard, using his police warrant card and handcuffs to stage an arrest before kidnapping the victim on March 3.

Carrick who is suspended now was based within the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, according to a police statement.

At the time of Everard murder, Couzens was also a serving firearms officer for the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

"I am deeply concerned to hear the news that an officer from the Met's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command has been arrested and now charged with this serious offence,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said.

She said: "I fully recognise the public will be very concerned too.

"Criminal proceedings must now take their course so I am unable to comment any further at this stage."

The commissioner was urged to resign from her post by many critics, including some senior Conservative party members.

Cressida Dick became the first woman to lead Metropolitan Police in 2017.