Just why is cabbie sex fiend about to be freed?
MPs fight for answers on monster
DISGUSTED MPs are battling to find out why the Parole Board ruled black cab rapist John Worboys will go free just eight years after he was jailed.
The board’s chairman, Professor Nick Hardwick, will be hauled before Parliament’s Justice Committee to explain how the decision was reached.
Worboys, 60, who is due to walk free within weeks, was jailed in 2009 for drugging and sexually assaulting women in his taxi.
Police believe he carried out more than 100 attacks.
Bob Neill, who chairs the Justice Committee, said: “What has happened is very disturbing.
“It is vital the public has confidence in Parole Board decisions.”
The Tory MP added: “In my view, it is ridiculous the current rules prevent the board making public the reasons for their decisions.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Burgon demanded swift action on the Parole Board’s rules.
He said: “The John Worboys case shows it’s time for greater transparency of the Parole Board’s decisions. The Government needs to take action to put an end to this untenable situation.
“It must urgently set out plans to amend the current rules.” A group of 58 Labour and Lib Dem MPs has written to Justice Secretary David Lidington calling for an inquiry into the decision to free Worboys. The MPs, led by Labour’s Stella Creasy, want the Government to confirm whether or not the views of the rapist’s victims were considered before the ruling.
The letter said: “The decision to release Mr Worboys, even on strict licensing conditions, cannot be considered to have been made with a full and complete understanding of the impact of his many crimes without such information.”
Prof Hardwick, who approved the release, said he is “very concerned” victims may not have been told before the announcement was made public. He apologised “unreservedly” and said it must be “very distressing” for them.
He also admitted there is a “lack of transparency” in the board’s decision-making process.
It is an independent body and its decisions cannot be overturned by the Justice Secretary. But London Mayor Sadiq Khan demanded the ruling on Worboys be reconsidered.
Mr Khan said it was “inconsiderate, unsympathetic and inhumane” that some of Worboys’ victims may not have been informed that he was set for release, which he said was a “clear breach” of the Victims’ Code. Dame Vera Baird, the Solicitor General when Worboys was convicted, believes the ruling to free him should face a judicial review.
She said: “Although they [the board] sit in private and their material is confidential… the court will be able to see it and do an external review as to whether this is a reasonable decision.”
Worboys, of Rotherhithe, South East London, was convicted of one count of rape, five counts of sexual assault, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges. For years, he preyed on young women who had been out drinking in the capital.
Worboys offered them champagne laced with strong sedatives, and he pounced when they were helpless to stop him.
He was given an indefinite sentence with a minimum tariff of eight years. Sentencing guidelines have since changed.
Were he convicted of the same offences today he would face a minimum tariff of between 13 and 19 years. Since Worboys’ conviction dozens more women have come
forward claiming they were assaulted or drugged by him.
Some of his victims have expressed their anger at the handling of the case.
Julia – not her real name – said she had not been to the police because she “didn’t feel one more story would count”. She told the BBC: “I was coming out of a nightclub... I wasn’t very drunk. I hailed a black cab.
“We had a nice conversation, he offered me another drink and I agreed and I can’t remember any more...
“It was only my boyfriend who saw him on the news and recognised him when he dropped me off. I’m so angry I had to explain this to my daughter. How can he be getting out?”
Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, said: “The story of John Worboys is a case study in the failure of the criminal justice system to protect and deliver justice for victims of sexual violence.” The Ministry of Justice said some of Worboys’ victims had chosen not to be updated on his release. It added: “Others chose to be informed by phone or email and were contacted immediately; others chose to be informed by letters which were sent straight away, but of course take longer. “Our priority is to support victims and it is right that we respect their decisions about how they are contacted.” Worboys was convicted of attacking and drugging 12 women. The Mirror told yesterday of the decision to release him.
His ex-wife Jean Clayton, 60, reportedly slammed the ruling, saying: “He should never be let out.
“If he hadn’t been caught... he would have murdered somebody.”
Ms Clayton ended their four-year marriage in 1995.
Including the time Worboys spent on remand after being arrested he has been behind bars for roughly 10 years.
Labour MP Sir Keir Starmer, Director of Public Prosecutions at the time of the trial, is under pressure to explain why the rapist was not prosecuted for assaults on dozens more women who came forward afterwards.
The Crown Prosecution Service last night confirmed Sir Keir did not have “any involvement in the decisionmaking” in the case of Worboys.
And the CPS added that no further cases had been passed to them by the police after the prosecution. The CPS said 83 complainants were referred to them during the police investigation.
It said 14 of the women formed part of the trial and the claims from the others did not pass the evidential test.
It is a case study in the failure to deliver justice for victims SOPHIE WALKER, OF THE WOMEN’S EQUALITY PARTY
NOBODY could blame First Lady Melania Trump for avoiding her grotesque husband and not wanting to share a marital bed with the nasty, lying, racist sex predator.
And the US President betrays an astonishing lack of self-awareness if he thinks of his sons as dumb. If they were at the back of the room when brains were handed out, old Donald was next door and missed out completely.