Victory for victims as black cab rapist John Worboys is refused parole as he still thinks ‘rape is acceptable’
BLACK CAB rapist John Worboys must stay behind bars after it was ruled yesterday he is too big a risk to walk free.
The Parole Board report came as police revealed he faces new charges.
Yet last year another Parole Board team recommended his release. That was quashed by the High Court after a challenge by victims and The Sun.
The rapist must stay behind bars after a chilling review of his case declared he still believes rape is “acceptable”. A new Parole Board report released yesterday said the serial sex attacker was too big a risk to be allowed to walk free - or to be moved to an open prison.
In yesterday’s staggering report, the Parole Board said Worboys required more counselling and detailed the graphic threat he still poses. They said the 61 year-old has a “sense of sexual entitlement”, believed that “rape is acceptable” and a “need to have sexual contact with women and to control women”.
“The panel was not satisfied that Mr Worboys was suitable for release or progression to the open estate,” the report said.
Delighted victims spoke of their “huge relief” but demanded a review of the justice system. The predator was jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years after being found guilty of 19 offences. He now faces at least another two years in jail.
The verdict will pile further pressure on the Ministry of Justice over the farcical handling of the case over the past 12 months.
Earlier this year, it emerged a dossier of evidence passed to the Parole Board last year didn’t include details of attacks that were not prosecuted. And it omitted sentencing remarks that branded Worboys a “high continuing risk to women and a significant risk of reoffending”.
It separately emerged that some of the rapist’s victims were not told about his impending release.
In January, ex-Parole Board chief Nick Hardwick said that while his victims would find the judgement difficult, he was “confident” Worboys wouldn’t reoffend.
In its new decision the Parole Board said it had considered a 1,255 page dossier prepared by Justice Secretary David Gauke and seven personal statements by victims detailing the continuing impact of his crimes.
The Parole Board review – which took place on October 25 – also noted an ongoing Met Police investigation into new historic allegations against the rapist. Police believe Worboys may have carried out more than 100 rapes and sexual assaults on women in London between 2002 and 2008.
He gave his victims drug-laced champagne before attacking them in the back of his black cab. Only six out of more than 80 women who came forward to police refused the drink. A rape “tool kit” hidden in the footwell of his cab included condoms, plastic gloves and a sex toy.
Victims last night spoke of their huge relief but said it defied belief the justice system had allowed the case to get this far in the first place.
Carrie Symonds – who at 19 was one of John Worboys’ youngest victims more than a decade ago – said: “This is an incredible relief. It was the most horrendous shock to be informed earlier this year that Worboys was to be released much sooner than expected, with absolutely no good reason.
“Myself and other victims were sure then as we are now, that he still poses a real danger to women. The parole board and the justice system let us down very badly but today us victims who fought to keep him behind bars have been vindicated. This is the right decision.”
Rachel Krys, co-director at the End Violence Against Women said: “If it wasn’t for the brave women who challenged the decision the first parole board made earlier this year, a dangerous rapist would have been walking the streets for months.
“This is the tip of the iceberg, the justice system is failing us all when it comes to rape - we need an end to end review to establish what’s going wrong and what needs to change.”
Justice Secretary David Gauke in April pledged a root and branch restructuring of the Parole Board in wake of the Worboys case.
He said victims would be able to challenge decisions for the first time. And he added that a judge-led process could in some instances be open to the public to force the board to reconsider a decision.
A blanket ban on transparency – allowing the Parole Board to explain its decisions to victims – would also be lifted.
The Sun Says
A NEW parole panel confirms what The Sun always knew . . . that John Worboys is a dangerous predator who still considers rape acceptable.
Shame, then, on the previous board that lined up the black cab rapist for freedom only ten months ago.
John Worbys is behind bars for the foreseeable future and potentially facing new charges
This remorseless monster would have been back on our streets were it not for two brave victims campaigning alongside The Sun. Instead Worboys is behind bars for the foreseeable future and potentially facing new charges.
We are proud to have played a part — and to have forced the Government to open up parole judgments to scrutiny.
But how can any panel have made such a grotesque misjudgment?
New parole chief Caroline Corby moans that her members have lost confidence since finding themselves in the spotlight — and witters on about a lack of ethnic diversity on panels. She has a far more pressing recruitment problem:
Eliminating gullible bleeding-hearts, easily duped by violent criminals’ sob stories.
In a statement last night a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Worboys’ crimes were terrible and our sympathies go out to his victims.
“Since the High Court overturned Worboys’ release decision earlier this year we have worked to ensure there is no repeat of this case – issuing guidance about how to consider allegations of wider offending, increasing transparency and carrying out a thorough review of the Parole Board rules.
“This review and the next steps will be published soon alongside our response to the consultation on the introduction of a mechanism to challenge parole decisions.”
'Trial No2' for fiend
CABBIE rapist John Worboys could face a new trial over other alleged sex attacks, it emerged yesterday.
Detectives have handed an “advice file” of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service on offences said to have been carried out over a ten-year period.
Five women came forward with new claims after the Parole Board first ruled for his release, reported by The Sun, right.
Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command officers quizzed Worboys under caution at Wakefield prison in July.
The Met Police said: “The allegations include sexual assault and administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence, and are said to have been committed between 1997 and 2007.”
Last night the CPS said: “A decision will be made in due course.”
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