Worboys could be free within weeks

assaulting a woman in July 2015.

But the CPS decided to offer no evidence against him on the basis of fresh evidence. Surrey Police has admitted “there were flaws in the investigation”. A TEENAGER has denied responsibility for the Parsons Green terror attack which injured 30 Tube travellers last September.

Iraqi Ahmed Hassan Mohammed Ali, 18, of Sunbury, Surrey, was charged with attempted murder and using the chemical compound TATP to cause an explosion that was likely to endanger life.

Hassan spoke only to enter not guilty pleas to both charges before he was remanded in custody for a two-week trial from March 5. A FORMER pole-dancer has been jailed for four years after entering a suicide pact with a postman and leaving him to die alone.

Natasha Gordon backed out of the agreement with Matthew Birkinshaw, 31, on December 17 2015, by getting out of his car before he killed himself. The ex-model, 44, was described during her trial as an “enthusiastic advocate” of suicide – attempting to arrange other pacts within hours of Mr Birkinshaw’s death. But after backing out and leaving him to die, Gordon did not tell police officers who were just 450 metres away. BLACK-CAB rapist John Worboys could be freed within weeks after the Government opted not to challenge his release.

Justice Secretary David Gauke decided it would not be appropriate to seek a judicial review of the case after taking legal advice.

Despite the decision, lawyers for victims confirmed they intend to move ahead with their own challenge next week.

An outcry erupted earlier this month after the Parole Board directed the release of Worboys, 60, after a decade behind bars.

He was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, for drugging and sexually assaulting women passengers.

Worboys was convicted of 19 offences against 12 victims but has been linked to more than 100 complaints in total.

Last weekend it emerged Mr Gauke had commissioned advice on the possibility of taking the highly unusual step of seeking a judicial review.

If the Government had been successful in a court challenge, Worboys could have been kept behind bars while the case was reconsidered.

In a statement to the Commons yesterday, Mr Gauke said he could not give

Royal Mail employee Mr Birkinshaw, of Walsall, West Midlands, was pronounced dead just after he was found in his Fiat Punto at Rutland Water in Oakham, Rutland.

Gordon, of Peterborough, denied having any impact on Mr Birkinshaw’s decision to take his own life, but was details of the legal advice he was given but noted that the bar for a judicial review to succeed is “very high”.

He said: “I have made clear that I will not bring a legal challenge to the Parole Board’s decision unless there is a reasonable prospect of success.

“Having taken on considered and expert legal advice, I have decided it would not be appropriate for me as Secretary of State to proceed with such a case.

“I understand that some will be disappointed in my decision, but I have acted swiftly to ensure this issue is examined and, hopefully, provide some clarity for victims.”

The case could still be reviewed in the courts after it emerged earlier this week convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court in December.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb accepted Mr Birkinshaw would have more than likely taken his own life but said Gordon had influenced his decision to commit suicide and the method he chose. that lawyers for two women were planning to launch their own legal challenge.

Following the Government’s announcement, their solicitor Harriet Wistrich said: “We can confirm that in the absence of any unexpected and compelling response from the Parole Board to our pre-action correspondence, we intend to launch judicial review proceedings against the Parole Board next week.

“The decision by the Secretary of State does not weaken our case at this stage.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also said he had instructed counsel over the possibility of a judicial review of the decision.

Mr Khan said: “I am deeply concerned and unhappy about the prospect of John Worboys’s impending release.”

Mr Gauke emphasised that Worboys will not be released until his licensing conditions have been finalised, and victims signed up to a contact scheme have had their say on the restrictions.

He also disclosed that a review announced last week will be widened to look at whether there should be a mechanism to allow parole decisions to be reconsidered.