Black cab rapist John Worboys ‘just as dangerous now’, court told

Black cab rapist John Worboys had “fantasised” about attacking women since 1986 and remains just as dangerous as ever, a court has heard.

The 62-year-old predator, who is already in jail for attacking 12 women, appeared in court to be sentenced for spiking the drinks of four more victims.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC told the Old Bailey that psychiatrist Philip Joseph found Worboys had been “fantasising” about it since 1986.

A probation report in August this year stated that “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”.

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.

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.

At his sentencing, Mr Penny told how the first victim was targeted in 2000 or early 2001 after a night out at a wine bar in Dover Street in Soho.

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 her with red wine, after she rejected his offer of champagne.

Mr 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.”

Worboys said he had won the lottery and she and her flatmate were his last fare of the night.

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 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.

Mr 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.”

Years later, she recognised Worboys from a picture on television and had “flashbacks” to what happened when she was pregnant with her two children.

The third victim was picked up by Worboys after a night out on the King’s Road in 2007.

Worboys told her he had won £40,000 at the 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, he continued on to the woman’s home but she had no memory of getting from the kerbside to her flat.

Mr 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.

Mrs Justice McGowan adjourned sentence until the afternoon.

The maximum sentence for the first two charges Worboys admitted is life imprisonment and the other two charges carry a maximum of 10 years.

Referring to victim impact statements, Mr Penny said: “The consistent theme throughout, together with the content of what took place, seems to be the profound effect not knowing what happened has had in each of these women throughout their lives as a result of having been unfortunate enough to get into the defendant’s black cab.”

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.

Psychologist Jackie Craissati said she considered Worboys to be at “low risk of reoffending” when he is eventually released under “managed controls”.