Parole Board Rules That 'Black Cab Rapist' Will Stay in Jail
John Worboys
In January of this year the board had decided that the 'black cab rapist' - who is now known as John Radford - should be released after serving less than ten years of an indeterminate prison sentence, but this decision was challenged by two of his victims.
The judge decided to support the challenge and overturned the original decision to release him, prompting the resignation of the board’s chairman Nick Hardwick.
The 61 year-old rapist was jailed in 2009 for sexually assaulting 12 women in London. He was convicted of one rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges - but police believe he committed crimes against more than 100 women between 2002 and 2008.
Worboys targeted vulnerable young women leaving nightclubs in Chelsea and the West End, picking them up in his cab and persuading them to drink a glass of champagne with him. The champagne was drugged and he would then assault them when they were unconscious.
His first attack was in October 2006, when he drugged a 26 year-old office worker going home to Fulham. She was able to escape by getting out of the cab after waking to find Worboys assaulting her. Another victim was a woman from Putney whom he picked up outside a club on Tottenham Court Road on 21 December 2007. He raped her after driving her home, leaving DNA evidence which was used to convict him.
In its decision summary, the Parole Board said it had considered a 1,255-page dossier prepared by the justice secretary and seven personal statements by victims detailing the continuing impact of his crimes.
It found "risk factors associated with Mr Worboys, including sexual preoccupation, a sense of sexual entitlement, his attitudes towards women (including a need to have sexual contact with women and to control women), a belief that rape is acceptable, alcohol misuse and problems with relationships".
The board said witnesses had described 'positive behaviour' by Worboys since his last custody review but that they did not support release or moving him to an open prison.
The panel also took into account that there is an ongoing investigation into him following more victims having come forward.
November 19, 2018