‘I have been let down by system at every step’
ONE OF the women who won a landmark ruling over the decision to release black-cab rapist John Worboys said she fought the case because she does not want others to go through the same ordeal.
Three judges in London have ruled that the Parole Board must make a “fresh determination” on whether Worboys, who now goes by the name of John Radford, should be released.
The woman, who can only be identified as DSD, said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the High Court’s ruling yesterday, but said she did not want other women to go through what she had endured.
She said she was “very grateful” to members of the public who crowdfunded the High Court case.
She said: “It is the whole system that has failed. I feel like I have been let down at every step.
“It is wrong that we have been put in this situation. As victims we should have been supported and not had to fight every step of the way in court.”
Worboys was never prosecuted over the allegations made by DSD, but for a range of “sample” offences.
He was also found by a High Court judge to have committed offences against DSD, in a ruling on her case against the Metropolitan Police, and Worboys settled a claim she and 10 other women made against him for £241,000 without admitting any wrongdoing.
She said she believes the 60-year-old serial sex attacker could have been prosecuted for the allegations she made against him and will continue her fight.
Worboys was jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years after being found guilty of 19 offences, including rape, sexual assault and drugging, committed against 12 victims.
He became known as the blackcab rapist after attacking victims in his hackney carriage.
Police believe he committed crimes against 105 women between 2002 and 2008, when he was caught.
The judges heard that Worboys, who has served 10 years behind bars, including remand time, has denied committing any offences other than those for which he was convicted.
The three leading judges also said the public have a right to know about Parole Board decisions in future.
A rule had prevented the Parole Board from sharing the reasons for its decision to release Worboys, but Sir Brian Leveson, one of the judges, said there are “clear and obvious reasons” why the board should provide information about its decisions to the public.