Taxi driver John Worboys was jailed for raping and sexually assaulting passengers in 2009
One of the country’s most infamous rapists is set to be released from prison.
John Worboys, known as the ‘black cab rapist’, was jailed for raping and sexually assaulting 12 passengers in 2009.
He was accused of carrying out sexual assaults on more than a hundred women after spiking their drinks.
At his sentencing Worboys was told he must serve a minimum of eight years in prison for his attacks and would not be released until officials were convinced he did not pose a threat to women.
Yet the 60-year-old’s release has been signed off by the Parole Board, after his case was heard in November.
He will now have to report to probation staff each week, having spent ten years behind bars and a period on remand.
In a statement, the Parole Board added: We can confirm that a three-member panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Mr John Worboys, following an oral hearing.’
Worboys, a former porn actor and stripper, attacked numerous women during a five-year period between 2002 and 2008.
He offered the women cheap lifts home after nights out but spiked their drinks before carrying out the assaults.
Police also found a ‘rape kit’ in the back of his taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and gloves.
Worboys, who called himself Terry the Minder, was jailed indefinitely in April 2009 with a minimum tariff of eight years.
One of his victims, Carrie Symonds, was singled out as she waited for a night bus after an evening out on the King’s Road in Chelsea in July 2007.
Carrie Symonds (left) was singled out as she waited for a night bus in Chelsea in July 2007. Shown right, one of Worboys’ rape kits, including alochol and cups he used to drug victims
Worboys offered to take the 20-year-old home to East Sheen six miles away.
She described how, after making her feel indebted to him for the lift, she drank a glass of vodka he offered her, after which she remembers little.
She thought her drink must have been spiked but had so little memory of what happened that she did not report the incident until February 2008 when police made a public appeal.
Another of Worboy’s victims told the BBC that they were completely unaware that Worboys was due to be released, despite his ban from not contacting them.
Worboys was first arrested in July 2007 after a 19-year-old student reported a sex attack in South-East London. Officers traced him using CCTV.
But instead of turning up at his house unannounced, they arrested him by appointment – giving him the opportunity to get rid of evidence such as his ‘rape kit’, which contained drugs and drinks.
Worboys is a former porn actor and stripper who called himself Terry the Minder (left). Shown right, the Hackney flat Worboys shared with his former wife Jean Clayton
Police found a rape kit in the back of Worboys’ taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and cigarettes
Police also failed to search his home and taxi. The investigation was later dropped by senior officers.
Sarah Craigie encountered the evil of Worboys in May 2007 after she went to see a former boyfriend working as a DJ in a West End nightclub.
Walking near Leicester Square she was crying and ‘in a bit of a state’ when she came across a cab rank and Worboys asked if she needed a lift.
‘I told him that I needed to get back to Dagenham but only had £30 on me and that would not be enough,’ she recalled.
‘He said, “Don’t worry darling… I will get you home safe.’
Within five minutes of the journey starting, Worboys had asked her why she was crying and if she had a boyfriend. Miss Craigie – who admits she was drunk – poured her heart out.
‘It was then he said he had enjoyed a great day and had won thousands of pounds at the races,’ she said.
‘He asked me if I wanted to have a drink to celebrate. By that time I had really had enough alcohol but he offered me vodka, champagne, wine – he said he had anything I wanted to drink.
‘I said I would have a soft drink and after a while he passed me a can of Coke. After that the journey became a blur. Within about 20 minutes I was feeling really nauseous and drowsy. I was just dizzy and feeling so out of it.’
Miss Craigie rang a friend who advised her to text her boyfriend. She remembers little else until she woke up somewhere near home.
‘The driver said he needed to go to the toilet and he got out of the cab and was away for a few minutes,’ she added.
‘The next thing I remember was him being in the back of the taxi with me. He had a white plastic carrier bag full of cash – I have never seen so much money – and he was sipping champagne from a glass.
‘He then came towards me – really close and I felt very intimidated and vulnerable.
‘Worboys just kept on invading my personal space and it was then I then got angry.
‘ I shouted at him, “This just isn’t right – you should not be drinking. Just take me home.”‘
She recalled that Worboys then became aggressive and replied: ‘Don’t get out of your f***ing pram – I only wanted to celebrate my good fortune with you.’
He drove her home and Miss Craigie recalled her relief at seeing her boyfriend waiting outside her home. ‘He literally pulled me out of the cab.’
Worboys drove off at speed. Miss Craigie believes the journey home, which should have lasted only 30 minutes, had taken two hours.
Police found a ‘rape kit’ in the back of his taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and gloves