Black cab rapist to STAY behind bars
Dramatic U-tur n after outcry over early release of sexual predator who needed to exert his control and believed rape was acceptable
BLACK cab rapist John Worboys will remain in prison following a dramatic U-turn by the Parole Board.
Officials said the predator should stay behind bars because of his ‘sense of sexual entitlement’, a need to control women and his belief that rape was ‘acceptable’.
Victims of the 61-year-old, one of the country’s most prolific sex attackers, last night expressed ‘incredible relief’ that he would stay locked up.
However, the reversal raises questions about why he was cleared for release by a separate Parole Board panel earlier this year. Fury erupted in January when officials ruled the former cab driver, who is now known as John Radford, should be freed from maximum-security jail after nine years.
Worboys was given an indefinite jail sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years for a string of 19 offences against 12 victims including rape and sexual assault. But police have linked the prolific offender to more than 100 attacks. And in March, victims won a major High Court victory to quash the decision to release him and force the Parole Board to reassess the case.
Yesterday, a new three-member parole panel reversed the original ruling. A damning assessment said Wor-
‘Compelled to take action’
boys was still a danger to the public and that there was a need to ‘further understand risk factors and triggers to his offending’ before he can leave jail.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prosecution Service has been handed a file by police relating to allegations of new attacks from 1997 to 2007, the BBC reported.
Carrie Symonds, one of Worboys’ youngest victims, hailed the Parole Board’s ruling to keep Worboys behind bars as ‘the right decision’.
One of the women behind the legal challenge to the Parole Board’s original decision said she felt ‘vindicated’.
She said: ‘We knew this man was a danger to women and we felt compelled to take action. It was the right decision for us to act and thank goodness we did.’ A new Parole Board panel considered a 1,255-page dossier on Worboys and personal statements from seven victims on October 25. After studying the paperwork, the panel said it was ‘not satisfied’ the former cab driver was suitable for release.
Under Parole Board rules, Worboys can now request an oral hearing within 28 days. Sources claim it could now be up to two years before the case comes up for review again. However, the revelation will embarrass the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) after the chaos earlier this year when it emerged the sex attacker was due to go free after only nine years in jail.
In the wake of complaints that parole processes were shrouded in secrecy, Ministers scrapped a rule banning the board from disclosing information
about the reasoning behind its panels’ findings.
The Parole Board faced intense criticism over its earlier decision to free the serial predator straight onto the streets instead of first transferring him to an open jail.
It sparked a national outcry, including from victims who were not told of his imminent release.
The High Court later reversed the board’s decision after ruling that the three-person panel had acted unlawfully by failing to investigate Worboys properly. Senior judges upheld a legal challenge by victims that the organisation had wrongly assessed Worboys on the basis of 19 crimes he was convicted of, instead of the 100-plus allegations against him.
Parole Board chairman Nick Hardwick was forced to resign in disgrace over failures in assessing the risks posed by Worboys.
However, he hit back by revealing that MoJ officials had omitted crucial details about the rapist’s history from a dossier used in the decision. Following the outcry, the board has undergone the biggest reform in its 50-year history.
Ministers ended the blanket ban directing that all Parole Board decisions are made in secret.
In a historic judgment, the High Court said it breached basic principles of open justice.
Under other landmark proposals, victims will be given a right of appeal to block prisoners being freed.
Controversial decisions over release could also be challenged by any member of the public.
A Parole Board spokesman said: ‘Under current legislation Mr Worboys will be eligible for a further review within two years. The date of the next review will be set by the Ministry of Justice.’