Rape victims ‘had no right to sue Yard’

VICTIMS of serious crime should not be allowed to use the Human Rights Act to sue the police, the Home Office will argue today, in a landmark Supreme Court appeal.

The case of two women attacked by notorious “black cab rapist” John Worboys against the Metropolitan Police will be heard at the highest court in the land, following an intervention from Theresa May while she was Home Secretary.

The pair – known as DSD and NBV – won a civil claim against the Met for damages, using human rights laws to argue that the force was liable for failures in its investigation.

Scotland Yard, with the backing of the Home Office, appealed the decision, amid concern that the ruling would trigger thousands of rape compensation claims.

The Home Office’s submission to the Supreme Court, seen by The Daily Tel

egraph, will argue that there are “very serious concerns” about imposing a duty of care on police in relation to investigations.

They will tell the court that it could “damage operational effectiveness” by distracting officers from their cases and forcing them into “defensive policing”.

Worboys, one of the most prolific rapists in British history, was jailed for life in 2009 for carrying out more than 100 rapes and sexual assaults, using alcohol and drugs to stupefy victims.

He often pretended to have had a casino or lottery win in order to persuade women to “celebrate” with a glass of doped champagne.

But a botched Scotland Yard investigation, where officers did not take the women’s complaints seriously, meant that Worboys went on to attack dozens more female passengers.

The Met was ordered to pay a total of £41,250 compensation to the women, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court, will oversee today’s proceedings.