Parole Board Say John Worboys Must Stay in Jail

Their earlier decision to release him had been overturned in the High Court

The Parole Board have ruled that John Worboys should not be considered for release after their earlier decision to release him was blocked in the High Court.

In January of this year they had decided that the ‘black cab rapist’ who is now known as John Radford should be released after serving less than 10 years but this decision was challenged by two of his victims.

John Worboys
John Worboys

The judge decided to support the challenge and overturned the original decision to release him prompting the resignation of the board’s chairman Nick Hardwick.

The 61-year-old rapist was jailed in 2009 for sexually assaulting 12 women in London including a woman from Putney whom he picked up outside a club on Tottenham Court Road on 21 December 2007. He raped her after driving her home with DNA evidence being used as evidence against him. Worboys was convicted of 19 offences including one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges. Police believe he was responsible for a much greater number of offences than those for which he was convicted. He was sentenced to a minimum of eight years in jail with an indeterminate sentence which meant he could be detained as long as it was felt he presented a danger to women.

The BBC are reporting that they have seen a copy of the new Parole Board report which had a number of risk factors relating to a release of Worboys such as his "sexual preoccupation, a sense of sexual entitlement and a belief that rape is acceptable".

The report said that he continued to have a "sense of sexual entitlement" and a need to control women.

The panel also took into account that there is an ongoing investigation into him following more victims having come forward.

As well as being ordered to serve at least eight years, Worboys was given an indeterminate sentence, meaning he could be kept in prison as for as long as he was deemed to remain a danger to the public.

November 19, 2018