ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC SEX OFFENDERS TO TARGET THE STREETS OF LONDON, TAXI DRIVER JOHN WORBOYS DUPED, DRUGGED AND ASSAULTED DOZENS OF WOMEN. CAN AN OFFENDER WITH A RECORD THIS SERIOUS EVER CHANGE?
JOHN WORBOYS
John Worboys, ‘the black cab rapist’, dominated headlines nearly a decade ago in the UK thanks to a string of attacks on women who climbed into the London cab driver’s vehicle, only to be drugged, sexually assaulted and, in at least one incident, raped. Given an indeterminate Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence in 2009, his victims, estimated by police to total more than 100, were told that he would spend life behind bars. IPP sentences were abolished in 2012, as the IPP system was confusing and led to inconsistent sentencing. Despite this, more than 4,500 prisoners who were already serving these sentences were left in limbo without clear guidelines as to when they could expect to be released.
In 2017, after serving slightly more than the minimum of his indefinite sentence, Worboys was considered a safe bet by the Parole Board and was set to be granted his freedom. The news caused outrage, particularly from his victims. A review of the decision enthralled a nation and prompted a backlash that forced the authorities to reconsider the parole decision. Real Crime spoke to Durham University criminologist Nicole Westmarland about the rehabilitation of offenders and the effect that releasing Worboys after just nine years might have on his victims. After a tense and very public review, Worboys’s freedom was revoked by England’s High Court, but the fact that one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders was almost freed continues to send ripples of fear throughout the country.
Average John To Tantalising Terry
Born in Enfield, Middlesex, in 1957, Worboys’s life got off to a sad start. At the age of 13 his mother died from cancer and John Worboys, his father Alan and younger sister Barbara had to adjust to life without a much-loved member of their family. Intellectually average, he left school at the age of 16 with four CSE qualifications. Work prospects were slim for the young Worboys, who shuffled between menial jobs to make a living. In the 1980s, in the prime of his life and living in Rotherhithe, London, Worboys became a stripper and kissogram worker.
His stage name ‘Terry the Minder’ took inspiration from popular British comedy drama Minder – a series centred on an optimistic yet shady west London wheeler-dealer and his bodyguard Terry, often referred to as his ‘minder’. Worboys’s signature performance was gyrating to the show’s seedy theme tune. While working as a stripper he met his first wife, and the pair tied the knot in 1991. Worboys became a stepfather to her three children. After only eight years of marriage Worboys and his wife divorced, reportedly because he had sexu
