Serial black cab rapist John Worboys 'must stay in prison' after losing parole review
Black cab rapist John Worboys will stay in prison after a Parole Board panel concluded he is not suitable for release.
Worboys, 61, who is now known as John Radford, was jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years after being found guilty of 19 offences, including the rape, sexual assault and drugging of late-night passengers, committed against 12 victims.
He had granted freedom in January after the board accepted his claim that he no longer posed any risk to the public but following strong opposition from politicians, campaigners and the public the High Court ordered a review.
On Monday, the board said the reassessment had been carried out and the serial rapist would remain behind bars.
A spokeswoman for the Parole Board said on Monday: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board gave a negative decision in the parole review of John Worboys following an paper hearing in October 2018.
The BBC reports it has seen a summary of the reasons why the Parole Board has now refused to release Worboys, which include “risk factors” such as Worboys’ “sexual preoccupation, a sense of sexual entitlement and a belief that rape is acceptable”.
At his trial, at Croydon Crown Court in 2009, jurors were told he often picked up his victims in London’s West End and often told them he had won the lottery, or a prize in a casino, before offering a glass of champagne laced with sedatives.
He was eventually convicted of 19 offences including one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges.
The Guardian reported in August that Worboys was to be questioned over fresh allegations.
It said that an investigation was launched in January after a group of women got in touch with the police to make allegations against Worboys dating as far back as 1997.
The allegations being investigated include sexual assault and administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence.
