Rape survivor calls for Met chief to resign after six-figure settlement
Detective Constable Linda Williams, who was raped by former Met officer David Carrick in 2004, has called for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to resign. She says the force’s handling of her case and what she describes as a deeply sexist culture have caused further harm, and argues that Rowley cannot turn the culture around.
Williams, now 60, received a six-figure settlement described as compensation without acceptance of liability. She says Met lawyers questioned the severity of her PTSD and that the civil process left her feeling controlled and powerless. Carrick pleaded guilty in 2022 and 2023 to 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes of 12 women, and is serving 37 life sentences.
In short
- Linda Williams calls for Sir Mark Rowley to resign.
- She received a six-figure settlement from the Met.
- She says the force’s handling compounded her trauma.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Williams’s call for Rowley to resign reflects the view that a police chief is accountable for the culture and systems under his leadership, especially when failures have caused serious harm. Her experience of the force’s handling of her case and of the compensation process may also undermine confidence that the organisation can reform itself while he remains in post.
The case against
A case for Rowley to remain would be that resignation alone does not establish accountability or improve the force, and that sustained reform may depend on leadership being responsible for delivering it. The settlement was made without an admission of liability, and the account provided does not set out Rowley’s personal role in the original case, so his departure may be seen as premature without a fuller assessment of his actions and reform efforts.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Female police officer raped by David Carrick says Met chief Sir Mark Rowley should resign as she receives six-figure payout from force”.