Worboys victims win landmark case against police
Supreme Court victory could open way to more compensation claims after bungled investigations
POLICE face paying millions of pounds in compensation to victims of violent crime after two women who were raped by John Worboys won a landmark legal battle. The victims of Worboys had sued the Metropolitan Police for bungling the investigation into the so-called “black cab rapist”.
In a damning judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that the police’s investigation contained “such serious deficiencies” that the women’s rights to be protected from “inhumane and degrading treatment” under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been breached.
The victory will open the way for victims of serious, violent crimes to sue police if they fail to properly investigate and carry out shoddy inquiries.
Relatives of the victims of Stephen Port, a serial killer of four men, welcomed the result, saying it would strengthen their own legal claim.
But one of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers issued a statement warning that the court defeat would have repercussions on limited police resources. Sir Craig Mackey, the Deputy Commissioner, said: “There is no doubt that it will have implications for how we resource and prioritise our investigations. For example, we may need to consider moving extra resources into an Article 3 investigation from other areas, such as fraud.”
One of Worboys’ victims, who successfully brought the claim, accused police of trying “to have the final kick”, and she added: “At the end of the day, what the police should be doing is thinking about how they can follow their own procedures.”
The woman, identified only as DSD, said: “Had you [the police] done your job properly, there wouldn’t be 105 victims, there would be one. I can take the one. I can’t take the 105.”
Rachel Krys, of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “It is disgusting to suggest that investigating rape and sexual violence should not be a priority over property crime with our police forces.”
DSD was raped by Worboys in 2003 while her co-complainant, identified only as NBV, was attacked in 2007. Worboys, 60, was finally convicted in 2009 of drugging and then raping and sexually assaulting female passengers during a reign of terror as a black cab driver in London. The two victims are separately challenging a Parole Board decision to release Worboys after he served a minimum eight-year jail term.
The women’s judicial review will be heard next month and Worboys remains in jail pending the outcome.
The victims were awarded just over £41,000 in damages for the breach of their human rights. They had won the initial High Court case against the Metropolitan Police as long ago as 2013, but faced a series of appeals. The Supreme Court challenge by the police was backed by Theresa May, who was the home secretary at the time.