We won: victim of black cab rapist tells of her relief

A VICTIM of the black cab rapist today declared “we won” after it was ruled he must stay in prison — as Justice Secretary David Gauke said he hoped new measures would prevent a repeat of the controversy.

Carrie Symonds, 30, spoke of her relief after a Parole Board decision to free John Worboys was reversed, saying: “His victims have finally been vindicated.”

She praised readers of the Standard who helped raise £70,000 to challenge the original ruling, saying: “The justice system and the Parole Board let us down very badly. We knew he remained a danger to women and we knew we had to do all we could to prevent anyone else being drugged, assaulted and raped. And now — finally — we’ve been listened to and proven right.”

There was a public outcry in January when the Parole Board decided that Worboys was safe to be freed after about a decade behind bars.

He had been jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, after being convicted of 19 offences against 12 victims. Following his conviction, police said 100 women could have been attacked in London.

In March, t h e Pa ro l e B o a rd ’s release direction was quashed by the High Court after a legal challenge by two of his victims. As a result Worboys, 61, was kept behind bars until the case was reassessed by a new panel.

Yesterday, the review decided that Worboys should remain in prison because of his “sense of sexual entitlement”, a need to control women and his belief that rape was “acceptable”. The new three-member panel reversed the original decision with a damning assessment that he was still a danger to the public.

Mr Gauke today said a new mechanism would give victims the right to challenge decisions of the Parole