John Worboys

John Derek Radford (born John Worboys, June 1957) is a British convicted serial sex offender, known as the Black Cab Rapist. Worboys was convicted in 2009 for attacks on 12 women, committed between 2007 and 2008. In 2019, he was convicted for attacks on four more women, the earliest of which took place in 2000. Police say he may have had more than 100 victims.

Early life Born in Enfield, Middlesex, Worboys left school with few qualifications and was employed in jobs including milkman, junior dairy manager and security guard. He was in a relationship at the time of his arrest in 2008.

In 1996, Worboys passed The Knowledge, an exam that allowed him to operate as a taxi driver within London. As well as working within London, Worboys worked as a taxi driver in Bournemouth while living at his holiday flat in Poole. He still continued to work as a stripper at night.

Offending Method Worboys was a London black cab driver who picked up women as fares late at night in central London. He would tell each woman he was celebrating coming into a large amount of money, usually by winning the lottery or at a casino, show her a carrier bag full of money to back up his story, and then suggest she drink a glass of champagne with him, which he had drugged with sedatives. After the drugs had taken effect, he would rape or sexually assault his victims. The women often had little memory of what had happened to them.

Police investigation The first reports to police concerning suspicious incidents experienced by women in black cabs dated from 2002. Over a period of six years, 14 women between 18 and 34 years of age went to the police to tell of the assault or other worrying experiences in a taxi, all of which had similarities. The police failed to link them.

2006 On 14 October, a 25-year-old woman met Worboys while attempting to return home from a night out in Fulham. After having a drink, she awoke to find Worboys assaulting her and attempting to put his hand inside her underwear. She had a limited memory of the incident, but reported it to the police.

On 10 November, a journalist boarded Worboys' taxi along Regent Street. She had a drink with him before falling unconscious. Hours later, the journalist woke up with no memory.

Worboys' DNA was recovered from a semen stain in one woman's underwear, a wristband belonging to another woman was found in his house and a third woman's address was found in his notebook. Forensic evidence linked a vibrator found in his car to another survivor.

Other victims Worboys' arrest and charge was published in the media, with police appealing to the public for further information. As a result, Victim 13 contacted police.

Historic victims Victims that were unrelated to the original police investigation also emerged.

2002

Becki Houlston In 2002, Becki Houlston (who withdrew her right to anonymity) was walking to a taxi rank after a night out with friends in Bournemouth, Dorset, when she spotted a black cab, being driven by Worboys, which was unusual among the traditional yellow taxis in the town. Houlston flagged the taxi down as it drove towards her and got in. During the drive to her home address, Worboys told her that he had won at the casino, passing a drink through the glass partition of the taxi. Whilst she did not want to drink it, Worboys was insistent, so she took a sip.

Arriving outside her flat, Worboys wanted to top it up with more 'champagne', which Houlston stated tasted "absolutely vile and had a bitter taste to it". Houlston did not recall being sexually assaulted and the next morning, woke up with no ill effects, and went to work. She thought nothing more of the incident until 2009, when she saw the news that Worboys would give victims 'champagne', telling them he had won the lottery or at the casino. She saw his eyes and knew that the taxi driver who had done the same was Worboys, recalling how it sent a chill down her, knowing she was that close to him. This started flashbacks of the event and anxiety about getting into taxis. When Houlston learned Worboys was to be released, she was outraged and contacted a solicitor to make a statement. From this, the Metropolitan Police asked her to make a statement; however, the Crown Prosecution Service later told Houlston that there was not enough evidence to charge Worboys.

2003

'Deborah' 'Deborah' (not her real name) was picked up by Worboys after a work function. She later recalled Worboys claiming he had won the lottery, only having flashbacks of what occurred, with her next memory being waking up the following afternoon. Worboys had raped Deborah.

'Fiona'

'Fiona' (not her real name; described in court documentation as 'DSD') was picked up by Worboys, on her way home to her young baby, having been out celebrating a friend's birthday. Worboys told Fiona that he had won a lot of money and offered Fiona what she described as a "very strong orange liqueur". She later recalled that she remembered Worboys getting into the back of the taxi to have a cigarette with her, putting his arm around her, complimenting her. The next thing Fiona remembered was waking up in Whittington Hospital the following morning. She recalled that as soon as she woke up, she knew she had been raped, detailing that she discovered her tampon had fallen out and her vagina was covered with lubricant. On reporting it to police that morning, a urine sample was taken, indicating traces of the active ingredient within Nytol sleeping pills (however, at that time, the significance was not noted).

His defence counsel described Worboys as an "oddball", a "weird customer" and a "socially inadequate individual", but told the jury it did not mean Worboys was guilty, saying: "What have the prosecution got? They have got a lot of young women who had a very strange experience in the back of a taxi. It is not normal to be offered a drink by a taxi driver. The temptation for the jury is to say he is weird, he must have done it. Don't fall into that trap."

Verdict and sentencing Worboys was convicted at Croydon Crown Court on 13 March 2009 of one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges, committed from July 2007 to February 2008. He was cleared of two counts of drugging. He was sent for a pre-sentencing report and a psychiatric report, and was sentenced on 21 April.

Mr Justice Penry-Davey said he would not be released until the parole board decided he no longer presented a threat to women. He also ordered Worboys banned from driving a passenger vehicle for profit.

Subsequent developments Inquiry into the police investigation

The commander of Greenwich police, Chris Jarratt, 49, was moved on due to failings in this inquiry and an unrelated murder investigation. A spokeswoman for Women Against Rape said, "We hope that some senior officers will face dismissal over this and similar cases". Worboys' case was followed by criticisms about the police in connection with another prolific serial sex offender Kirk Reid, who escaped apprehension despite being connected with a string of sex crimes four years before his arrest.

Five officers had complaints against them upheld, but all were allowed to remain in their jobs. This decision was criticised by one of the survivors and her lawyers, who say that she was laughed at by the police when she reported her assault. Following this case, the Metropolitan Police created a central intelligence unit to investigate serial sex offenders.

'Deborah', who had been raped by Worboys in 2003, later recalled that when she reported the incident, the police told her that Worboys was "already going to prison, so just give your statement in". They added that the CPS was "not going to press charges because he's already in prison and it's a waste of public money".

By October 2010, the Metropolitan Police had received 102 additional complaints from women in London and Dorset, with 19 more victims coming forward since he had been convicted.

Two unnamed women, who were sexually assaulted by Worboys, received damages from the Metropolitan Police in February 2014 after it was concluded their human rights had been breached by "inhuman or degrading treatment" during the police investigation. The women were awarded compensation of a total of £41,250. The Met lost its appeal against the decision in 2015. As a result of this case, a hearing was held at the Supreme Court in March 2017 to establish whether survivors should be able to sue the police under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (under which it was decided to pay damages to the two women).

Proposed release and legal challenge In June 2013, a psychologist noted that Worboys maintained that he was innocent and lacked engagement in offence-focussed programmes. Another psychologist noted that Worboys thoughts remained the same in January 2015, but that he was "in the early stages of personal change". As had been concluded before, Worboys' risk had not reduced.

On 4 January 2018, the BBC reported that Worboys was to be released from prison. Worboys, who was by now 60 years old, had spent 10 years in custody including a period on remand. It was reported that Worboys had changed his surname to Radford.

The following day, Nick Hardwick, the chairman of the Parole Board, apologised "unreservedly" after it was reported that some of Worboys' survivors had not been informed about his pending release and The Guardian reported that Richard Scorer, the lawyer for several of Worboys' alleged survivors whose cases were not included in the original criminal prosecution, was ready to bring fresh prosecutions against him. On 28 March 2018 Hardwick resigned as Parole Board chair following a successful legal challenge quashing its decision to release Worboys.

In November 2018, it was announced that Worboys would remain in prison.

Further convictions On 1 May 2019, Worboys was charged with four further sexual offences alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2008, following a review of evidence by the Crown Prosecution Service. A hearing date was set for 23 May. In June 2019 he admitted the attacks on four women:

HM In 2003, HM was a university student, who lived just off Edgware Road. One evening, she went on a night out with friends, including another woman, CD, who shared her house. Leaving a central London nightclub in the early hours of the morning, the pair hailed Worboys' taxi. Worboys told them that he had won the lottery and as the pair were his last passengers, he would not charge them a fare. Worboys offered the pair a drink and on arriving back at HM's address, HM stayed in the taxi, accepting a drink, with her friend leaving and going into the house.

Worboys' account of his offending While in custody, Worboys discussed his offending with psychologists on various occasions. He explained how he offered passengers drinks in December 2005 and June 2006 without offending (he later stated that his first offence had been committed in December 2005, after the breakdown of his relationship in August 2005).