Former Home Secretary Lord Blunkett has said he ‘regrets’ a controversial sentencing policy he introduced that led to the release of black cab rapist John Worboys.
Speaking for the first time since Worboys’ release was announced, Blunkett said he accepted some responsibility for the sex offender being set free but insisted the legislation he introduced had been implemented badly.
And he hit out at the Parole Board’s decision to deem Worboys suitable for release, calling this a ‘very big error of judgement’ because he still poses a threat to women.
Lord Blunkett (right, pic in today’s interview) said he accepted some responsibility for the sex offender being set free but insisted the legislation he introduced had been implemented badly
He told Channel 5 News: ‘There are regrets about how it is been done, regrets for those who are genuinely suffering now and a desire to get it sorted out.’
When asked whether he should take partial responsibility for Worboys leaving jail, Blunkett replied: ‘I have (taken responsibility).
‘Over the last eight years since it became clear that this, the implementation, was going badly wrong, I’ve accepted entirely my part in this’.
The Criminal Justice Act of 2003 introduced Indeterminate Sentencing for Public Protection or IPP, designed for serious sexual and violent offenders in England and Wales.
Following his 2009 conviction of 19 offences including one count of rape, the former black cab driver, who is suspected of carrying out more than 100 rapes and sexual assaults, was given an IPP sentence.
In November, a three-person panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Worboys, following an oral hearing.
The former Home Secretary said: ‘There are regrets about how it is been done, regrets for those who are genuinely suffering now and a desire to get it sorted out’
Lord Blunkett says the sentencing guidelines were flawed.
‘The original intention back in 2003 with this sentence was going to be precisely for people like Worboys who should be locked away until they’re genuinely safe,’ he said.
‘I don’t believe he is. I think the Parole Board have made a very big error of judgment and I think it’s necessary now that we actually find ways of returning to this issue’.
The 70 year-old, who stepped down as a Labour MP in 2015 also expressed support for the victims of the attacker.
‘To those women who were damaged by John Worboys, my message is keep battling,’ he said.
Mr Blunkett’s comments came as two victims of Worboys (pic in an undated police mug shot) joined the Mayor of London in mounting legal efforts to resist his controversial release
‘Let’s hope for the judicial review as well as the police returning to some of the crimes which were not followed through. Let’s hope that those two things will get a result.’
Mr Blunkett’s comments came as two victims of Worboys joined the Mayor of London in mounting legal efforts to resist his controversial release.
The women, known as DSD and NBV, formally lodged an application on Thursday for a judicial review into the Parole Board’s decision, their solicitors said.
Lawyers also intend to present police and prosecutors with a dossier of allegations against Worboys, saying they were contacted by a ‘number of other victims’.
Sadiq Khan launched his own legal battle at the High Court, saying he would fight to put the ‘safety of Londoners and the needs of victims first’.
The Parole Board provoked fury this month when it directed Worboys’s release after a decade in prison.
He was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, for drugging and sexually assaulting women passengers.
Despite being convicted of 19 offences against 12 women, it is feared Worboys may have more than 100 victims.
Sadiq Khan launched his own legal battle at the High Court, saying he would fight to put the ‘safety of Londoners and the needs of victims first’. Pic: Worboys’ taxi in an undated photo