The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Parole Board head quits as courts quash rapist release decision
Justice Secretary told professor his position ‘untenable’
The head of the body that ordered the release of black cab rapist John Worboys has resigned after the High Court quashed the decision.
Parole Board chairman Professor Nick Hardwick announced he was standing down after being told by Justice Secretary David Gauke his position was “untenable”.
The dramatic development came as three senior judges in London ruled the board must make a “fresh determination”.
It means Worboys, 60, will remain in jail at least until the case has been reassessed. The process is expected to take several months.
There was outrage earlier this year after it emerged a three-person panel had decided Worboys was safe to be freed after around a decade behind bars.
The serial sex attacker was jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years after being found guilty of 19 offences, including rape, sexual assault and drugging, committed against 12 victims.
Worboys became known as the black cab rapist after attacking victims in his hackney carriage. Police believe he committed crimes against 105 women between 2002 and 2008, when he was caught.
The Parole Board was ordered to revisit the case after two victims mounted a legal challenge in the High Court.
Handing down their ruling, Sir Brian Leveson, Mr Justice Jay and Mr Justice Garnham said the board should have “undertaken further inquiry” into the circumstances of Worboys’ offending.
The two women who brought the legal challenge, known as DSD and NBV, expressed relief at the outcome.
NBV said: “I can get on with my life again without looking over my shoulder.”
Their solicitor, Harriet Wistrich, said since news of the decision to release Worboys appeared in the media, she had been inundated with calls from other victims who were “convinced he was a danger to women and would offend again”.
The judges heard Worboys has denied committing any offences other than those for which he was convicted.
Saying he was “sorry for the mistakes he made”, Prof Hardwick said he would “accept accountability” for the board’s work and “will not pass the buck to those who work under me”.
He also warned the episode raises “very troubling” questions about how the board’s independence can be “safeguarded”.
Mr Gauke said he believed Prof Hardwick’s decision to resign was correct “in light of the serious failings” outlined in the judgment.