Victims make police pay for not catching Worboys
TWO victims of black cab rapist John Worboys yesterday won a landmark victory against police for bungling the probe into the sex predator who claimed 105 victims.
The women sued the Metropolitan Police for breaching their human rights over a failure to catch Worboys sooner.
The Supreme Court ruled in the women’s favour and it could open the floodgates for more compensation claims.
One of Worboys’s first victims warned police last night: “Had you 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.”
Judges said forces should be held liable over “seriously defective” inquiries.
Following the judgment Deputy Commissioner Sir Craig Mackey said the force may “see a growth in this type of litigation” and that resources may have to be moved away from crimes such as fraud to deal with the fallout.
Giving the court’s ruling, Lord Kerr said: “We have held that failures in the investigation of the crimes, provided they are sufficiently serious, will give rise to liability on the part of the police.
“There were such serious deficiencies in this case. There were of course both systemic and investigatory failures in the case.
“But the important point to make is that if the investigation is seriously defective, even if no systemic failures are present, this will be enough to render the police liable.”
The first of Worboys’ victims to make a complaint to police, known as DSD, was at court to hear the judgment.
She and another female victim, known as NBV, were awarded £22,250 and £19,000 respectively after the High Court ruled that the Met were liable to them for failures in its investigation.
The women brought their claims under Article 3 of the Human Rights Act which relates to inhuman or degrading treatment.
It also emerged yesterday that the 60-year-old stripper turned cabbie has received £166,000 in legal aid since his arrest a decade ago. In January the Parole Board announced he would be released on licence after less than a decade behind bars, despite warnings that he could still pose a risk.
Figures released under Freedom of Information laws reveal Worboys has racked up a bill of £166,554 since his arrest in July 2007.
The total includes £7,347 in solicitor costs while being held in police custody and £159,207 for his Crown Court trial in 2009 – with £85,704 spent on solicitors and the rest on barristers.
The Ministry of Justice refuses to say how much his parole bid cost taxpayers.
It has been claimed a request for more legal aid to fund Worboys’ defence for the case has been turned down because of the £300,000 luxury seaside hideaway in Dorset he still owns.