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Black cab rapist John Worboys denied parole after attacking 16 women


Black cab rapist John Worboys has been denied parole after attacking 16 women, including Boris Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson.

Mrs Johnson expressed 'relief' after the Parole Board ruled Worboys will remain in prison.


Worboys, 68, has been serving a life sentence after he drugged and sexually assaulted women after luring them into his cab.

The wife of the former Conservative leader, who helped bring the serial rapist to justice, took to social media to express her "relief".



She wrote on X: "It has been a hugely anxious wait knowing that Worboys was up for parole again.

"The relief I feel knowing that he will remain behind bars is hard to put into words.

"Women and girls across Britain are safer as a result of this decision."

The decision, published today, led by Peter Rook KC on the Parole Board said Worboys "continues to represent a high risk of committing further serious sexual offences upon women".


John Worboys mugshot



Worboys "accepts he does not currently meet the test for release" and claimed he has "enormous regret, remorse and shame" towards "the women he has harmed and their families and friends", the parole papers detailed.

The Parole Board made their decision privately after initially ruling a public hearing would take place.

However, as Worboys was not going to request to be freed, the Parole Board did not require a public hearing and it is understood the case was determined by a review of paper evidence.

Worboys was first convicted in 2009 of 19 sexual offences against 12 victims committed between October 2006 and February 2008 in London, receiving an indefinite sentence for public protection with a minimum term of eight years.

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Boris and Carrie Johnson


Mrs Johnson initially celebrated the news, writing on X: "Excellent news just in. John Worboys was up for parole this week but we have just been told that the Parole Board member did not direct release or recommend a move to open conditions."

She was one of 14 women who gave evidence against Worboys at trial and was the youngest of his victims.

Following his conviction in 2009, she told The Telegraph he was "a sad, wicked man who is a danger to society", adding she felt angry he had pleaded not guilty and forced his victims to relive their experiences in court.

She waived her right to anonymity to speak publicly about what had happened to her and later campaigned actively against his early release, helping to fundraise for the successful judicial review that overturned the Parole Board's decision to free him.



When she was a first-year student at Warwick University, Mrs Johnson (then Symonds) spent the night of July 26, 2007 in Fulham, west London, before waiting at a bus stop on King's Road, where Worboys stopped and offered her a lift as they were travelling in the same direction.

When he offered her alcohol, she sensed something was wrong and poured it on the floor of the cab.

After she refused his proposition to perform a sex act in exchange for money, Worboys joined her in the back of the taxi and offered her £50 to drink a glass of vodka.

She took a shot and could recall nothing further.



In December 2017, a Parole Board panel ruled he was suitable for release, but two of his victims successfully challenged the decision through the courts and had it overturned.

The public outcry surrounding the case prompted a change in the rules, allowing certain parole hearings to be held in public and enabling greater scrutiny of the processes involved.

The widespread publicity also encouraged further victims to come forward, leading to additional charges covering offences dating back to 2000, which Worboys admitted.

In 2019, he was handed two life sentences with a minimum term of six years.

He will next be considered for parole in around two years' time.


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