Black cab rapist John Worboys has been refused parole for a second time and will remain in prison, the Parole Board has confirmed.
Worboys is a serial sex attacker who lured women into his cab late at night, falsely pretending to have won money and offering them an apparently celebratory drink which was drugged. The Parole Board did not direct his release or recommend a move to open conditions, Carrie Johnson said. His hearing was held behind closed doors.
Mrs Johnson, the wife of former prime minister Boris Johnson, posted on X: “It has been a hugely anxious wait knowing that Worboys was up for parole again. The relief I feel knowing that he will remain behind bars is hard to put into words. Women and girls across Britain are safer as a result of this decision.”
Worboys was first jailed in 2009 for 19 sexual offences linked to attacks on 12 victims between October 2006 and February 2008 in London, and given an indefinite sentence for public protection with a minimum term of eight years. In December 2017, a parole board panel decided he was ready for release, sparking a legal challenge by two of his victims that successfully got the decision overturned.
Amid outrage over the battle, rules were then changed to allow some parole hearings to be held in public and permit better scrutiny of the processes used. The publicity around the case led further victims to come forward, and Worboys was charged with more crimes dating between 2000 and 2008, which he admitted. In 2019, he was given two life sentences with a minimum term of six years.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has refused the release of John Worboys following a paper review. The panel also refused to recommend a transfer to open prison. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. The panel were not satisfied that he no longer posed a risk to the public, and accordingly did not direct his release.
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority. Under current legislation, he will be eligible for a further review in due course. The date of the next review will be set by the Ministry of Justice.”
The news comes following the release of a new ITV drama called Believe Me, which recounts how young women joined forces to put their rapist behind bars and hold the Metropolitan Police to account. Daniel Mays, who portrays John Worboys in the TV drama Believe Me, revealed that he “underestimated how much this psychologically affected me” and opted to receive the on-set therapy after initially turning it down. “I’m being asked to humanise a monster,” he said. “You have a responsibility to play them as three-dimensionally as you can.”
