A Metropolitan Police detective, who was raped by a fellow officer, has stated that Scotland Yard's handling of her case felt "like being raped all over again." Detective Constable Linda Williams was attacked in 2004 by PC David Carrick, a serial abuser who was jailed for life in 2023 for sexual offenses against her and 11 other women.

Williams has been living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the attack and sought damages from the Met for failing to protect her from Carrick. The protracted civil case, she revealed, left her feeling suicidal.

She highlighted a particularly distressing moment when lawyers representing the Met commissioner challenged the severity of her PTSD by arguing she had been raped only once. The Metropolitan Police informed the BBC that they attempted to minimize further distress and re-traumatization for DC Williams, aiming for a swift and compassionate resolution to her claims. The force acknowledged the unique and added impact on her, given her exposure to Carrick occurred while she was a Met officer, commending her "continued commitment to public service, in spite of the trauma she experienced."

In an unprecedented public statement for a serving officer, Linda Williams has called for Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to resign, asserting he has failed to deliver on his promises to reform police culture. She expressed a lack of trust in her own force to adequately handle cases like hers.

Sir Mark Rowley took the helm of the UK's largest police force in 2022, pledging significant cultural change amid a period of crisis for the Met. This followed the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and other scandals, such as officers sharing inappropriate images of murdered sisters. Following Carrick's sentencing in January 2023, Sir Mark acknowledged the force's failures and offered an apology, stating Carrick "should not have been a police officer."

Two months later, Baroness Casey's official report characterized the Met as an "institutionally misogynistic" "boys' club" that had failed women. Williams contacted the BBC after a Panorama investigation exposed a hidden culture of misogyny and racism within the force.

Having reported Carrick's rape in 2021, Williams described her experience since then as "horrific." She stated she would not report a rape to the Met today, declaring, "I don't trust the police and I don't think they deal with it correctly." Carrick was brought to justice by Hertfordshire Police, which investigated Williams' rape after she reported it upon seeing media coverage of Carrick's charges for another assault.

Significantly, Linda Williams herself served as a rape investigation officer in the early 2000s, supporting victims through their own rape investigations while she did not report her own assault. She waived her legal right to anonymity to speak to the BBC. Williams has since settled her civil case, with the Met paying her compensation without admitting liability.