Victims to attend parole board hearings in response to outrage over Worboys scandal

PAROLE board hearings are to be opened to victims for the first time under Ministry of Justice plans after outrage over the secretive decisionmaking on the release of John Worboys, the black-cab rapist.

Robert Buckland, the Justice Secretary, will next week announce a review to allow victims to watch or attend proceedings, and open them up to greater public scrutiny by letting in the press.

The proposal will be part of a shakeup of parole boards which could see them moved out of jails, where they are currently held behind closed doors, and into courtrooms where they could operate more like tribunals. It follows the scandal over the release of Worboys, who was convicted in 2009 of rape and sexual attacks on 12 women. Some of his victims were not told about the parole board decision which was overturned by the high court. Months later he admitted four more attacks on women.

Carrie Symonds, the Prime Minister’s partner, campaigned against the release of Worboys, who targeted her in 2007 when she was 19.

Victims and their families can provide “impact” statements to parole hearings often via video from an adjacent room to avoid coming face to face with their attacker, and under the MOJ proposals, this will be extended to a right to attend. There will be restrictions due to the private personal data about a defendant such as medical and psychological records. “It’s a balanced proposal that will potentially let victims attend the whole of the hearing or those parts of the hearing that do not infringe on medical confidences,” said a source.

Parole boards will also be advised to extend their power to invite journalists, with the MOJ planning discussions with the Society of Editors. A decision on the plans will be taken by the end of 2020 after a consultation. This will run in tandem with the “root-and-branch” review that “will look at whether it could move to a tribunal system,” said a source.