He’s believed to be one of many UK’s most prolific serial rapists, with the case drawing widespread consideration over each the size of the crimes and severe questions raised about how lengthy he was capable of evade justice.
Who’s John Worboys, the ‘Black Cab Rapist’?
John Worboys is a former black cab driver who labored in London and Bournemouth.
Outdoors of his work as a taxi driver, Worboys additionally carried out as a stripper beneath the title “Terry” and was concerned in making pornographic movies. He married within the Nineteen Nineties, however the relationship ended after a number of years.
Simon Ridgway/ITV
He was later convicted of a number of sexual assault prices after being discovered to have lured feminine passengers into his taxi and allegedly drugged them.
How did John Worboys commit his crimes?
Worboys adopted a repeated sample of alleged offending. He would typically decide up girls late at night time in London or Bournemouth and reportedly declare he had gained the lottery or a big sum at a on line casino, typically displaying a bag of money as “proof.”
He would then invite passengers to drink what he described as champagne to have fun, which prosecutors later mentioned was seemingly spiked with sedatives. As soon as the medicine took impact, he carried out sexual assaults.
It took a number of victims coming ahead, with many describing related experiences, together with reminiscence loss, confusion, and unexplained bodily accidents, earlier than police started to determine patterns linking the circumstances and constructing a broader investigation.
One sufferer mentioned she awoke to seek out her tampon lacking however could not clarify why, and one other had given beginning simply weeks earlier than her assault, in keeping with a report by The Guardian.
How was John Worboys caught?
After an assault on a scholar in July 2007, John Worboys was captured on CCTV, and his automobile’s quantity plate was recorded after he dropped her again at her college lodging. He was questioned by police on the time, however the case was finally dropped.
Worboys continued his assaults, and in February 2008, he was rearrested after a number of extra girls reported related experiences, together with being provided alcohol, feeling confused or shedding consciousness, or recalling him changing into aggressive once they refused drinks.
Police have been then compelled to revisit the case extra completely, which led to his arrest. This improvement adopted authorized motion introduced by two survivors — known as Sarah and Laila in Imagine Me to guard their identities — towards the Metropolitan Police, citing severe failings within the investigation into their experiences of drug-facilitated rape.
Was John Worboys convicted?
On 18 February 2008, the taxi driver John Worboys was charged with one depend of rape, 4 counts of sexual assault, and 6 counts of administering a substance with intent.
Following a public attraction, extra victims got here ahead, bringing the whole variety of complainants to 14.
Throughout his January 2009 trial, Worboys pleaded not responsible to 23 prices. His defence argued that whereas he was an “oddball,” he was not a rapist or predator.
