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John Worboys jailed for life over attacks on four more victims John Worboys given two more life sentences for additional attacks
(about 3 hours later)
Old Bailey told black-cab rapist remains as dangerous as ever Old Bailey hears black-cab rapist confessed to targeting 90 women with spiked alcohol
The black-cab rapist John Worboys has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of six years for attacking four more victims, as the court heard he remained as dangerous as ever. The black-cab rapist John Worboys has been handed two additional life sentences for attacks on four more women as it was revealed the serial sexual predator confessed to targeting 90 victims.
Worboys had “fantasised” about attacking women since 1986, the court was told. The 62-year-old, who is already in prison for attacks on a dozen women, must serve a minimum of six years for the attacks in which he spiked the drinks of his victims.
The 62-year-old, who is already in jail for attacking 12 women, appeared in court to be sentenced for spiking the drinks of four more victims. Last year the Parole Board reversed a decision to release Worboys after a widespread public outcry, prompting other victims to come forward to report attacks dating back nearly two decades.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC told the Old Bailey that psychiatrist Philip Joseph found Worboys had been “fantasising” about it since 1986. The former cab driver, who has changed his name to John Derek Radford, was jailed indefinitely in 2009 for public protection with a minimum term of eight years after being found guilty of 19 offences involving attacks on 12 women. On Tuesday, Worboys was sentenced at the Old Bailey after admitting to similar attacks on four women, the earliest in 2000.
A probation report in August stated that “he is potentially just as dangerous now as the point of the first sentence”. The court heard how Worboys had since confessed to a psychologist that he plied 90 women with alcohol, drugging a quarter of them, after being inspired by pornography. Worboys admitted to psychiatrists that he had been fantasising about his crimes since 1986, motivated by a “hostility towards women”.
In 2009, Worboys was locked up indefinitely for the protection of the public with a minimum of eight years after being found guilty of 19 sex offences against 12 women between 2006 and 2008. A probation report in August this year found: “He is potentially just as dangerous now as the point of the first sentence.”
Last year, the Parole Board overturned a decision to release him and ruled that he should remain in prison, citing his “sense of sexual entitlement”. Worboys’ confession is in line with the police’s belief that he committed 105 sexual offences against women, using his cab to pick up victims before drugging them with alcohol laced with sedatives.
As a result of the publicity, fresh victims came forward to report attacks dating back to 2000, meaning Worboys had been committing crimes six years longer than previously thought. In sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan said: “I am satisfied to the required standard, on the evidence I have heard, that you are a continuing risk. I find you are currently dangerous.
Worboys, from Enfield, north London, admitted two charges of administering a drug with intent to commit rape or indecent assault and two further charges of administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence. “Your offending spans five years more than previously known. I do not know when, if ever, you will cease to be a risk. It will be for the Parole Board to decide in the future.”
At his sentencing, Penny told how his first victim was targeted in 2000 or early 2001 after a night out at a wine bar in Dover Street in Soho, central London. The judge also highlighted her concern about Worboys’ ability to “manipulate others” and his “failure to admit” the risk he posed.
After he picked her up in his cab, Worboys said he was celebrating a win on the horses and had previously worked as a Chippendales stripper. He pulled into a side road off the A40 and plied the woman with red wine after she rejected his offer of champagne. Worboys, from Enfield, north London, had admitted two charges of administering a drug with intent to commit rape or indecent assault, and two additional charges of administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Prosecuting, Duncan Penny QC told the court how one victim was picked up by Worboys in 2000 or early 2001 after an evening out at a wine bar in Soho. The cab driver claimed he was celebrating a win on the horses and had previously worked as a Chippendales stripper, before pulling into a side road off the A40 and giving her red wine.
Penny said: “The last memory she had was finishing drinking the wine. She had no further memories to what took place that evening until she woke up the next day at her home address. She was naked in bed with her clothes laid out in a trail.”Penny said: “The last memory she had was finishing drinking the wine. She had no further memories to what took place that evening until she woke up the next day at her home address. She was naked in bed with her clothes laid out in a trail.”
The second woman he attacked, a university student living in north London, was picked up after a night out with friends at a club on New Oxford Street in 2003. Worboys said he had won the lottery and she and her flatmate were his last fare of the night. Another victim, a university student in north London, was picked up with a friend by Worboys after a night out clubbing in central London in 2003. Reaching their home, the woman agreed to have a drink with Worboys but her friend left. After giving her “something fizzy”, Worboys drove to Paddington Basin where she recalled he appeared “in her face”, possibly after kissing her. She later remembered being back outside her house, lying on the floor of the cab. The following day she was “anxious” and had a “feeling of dread something bad had happened”, the court heard.
When he reached their home, the woman agreed to have a drink with him but her friend got out. He gave her “something fizzy”, drove to Paddington Basin where she remembered he appeared “in her face”, possibly after kissing her. She went to the police station at the time and stood outside but ultimately decided against reporting it as she “did not know what to say”, Penny told the court. When she was pregnant years later she had flashbacks and also recognised Worboys from a picture on TV.
She later recalled being back outside her house in the hazy morning light lying in the floor of the cab. The next day she was “anxious” and had a “feeling of dread something bad happened”, the court heard. Mitigating, Ali Bajwa QC said Worboys had expressed “sincere” remorse. But after sentencing, Richard Scorer, a lawyer who represented 11 of Worboys’ victims, said: “Today’s sentencing will be welcome to Worboys’ many victims – but only if life really means life. Worboys is an exceptionally manipulative and dangerous individual. He will always pose a risk to women and he can never be allowed back into society.”
Penny said: “She went to Edgware police station and stood outside and thought about reporting it but she did not know what to say to police, that she had a bad feeling.” The Parole Board overturned its own decision to release him last November, eventually deciding he should remain in prison after noting his risk and “sense of sexual entitlement”. High court judges had ruled nine months earlier that the organisation’s decision to release Worboys should be quashed, ordering a fresh determination of the case. The Parole Board’s then-chair, Nick Hardwick, lost his job over the affair.
Years later, she recognised Worboys from a picture on television and had “flashbacks” to what happened when she was pregnant with her two children.
A third woman was picked up by Worboys after a night out on the King’s Road in Chelsea in 2007. Worboys told her he had won £40,000 at a casino, showed her a Sainsbury’s bag with banknotes in it and held up a bottle of champagne.
He pulled up and gave her a drink but she remembered saying she wanted to go and tipping it on the ground. She next remembered waking up in bed the next day with a hangover.
In 2009, she recognised Worboys in a newspaper report but chose not to pursue her case at the time because he was already going to prison.
The fourth woman was attacked in 2007 or 2008 after she got into Worboys’s cab with a friend. He told them he had won the lottery and offered them miniature bottles of champagne. The woman took three sips from a cup before she decided to stop drinking because he was a stranger.
After dropping off her friend, Worboys continued on to the woman’s home but she had no memory of getting from the kerbside to her flat. Penny said: “She woke up in bed the following morning. The bed clothes had not moved and her hands were crossed over her chest, which was unusual.
“She was sufficiently unnerved to check herself. There were no visible signs she had been touched.” She felt “out of it” and slept deeply “as if someone had turned the light out”, the court heard.
Ali Bajwa QC, in mitigation, said the defendant, also known as John Radford, had expressed “sincere” remorse.
Dr Nigel Blackwood told the court Worboys was a “dangerous” offender who had shown a lack of openness and honesty in his dealings with experts in the past. The psychiatrist noted his “hostility towards women” and “intimacy” problems in relationships.