Afternoon:
10°c
Guilty: black cab rapist preyed on scores of women
Justin Davenport and Jack Lefley13 Mar 2009
A black cab driver was convicted this afternoon of carrying out a string of sex attacks on women passengers he drugged in the back of his taxi.
John Worboys was found guilty of 19 charges including rape, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent. The offences related to 12 women.
But detectives already know of 85 victims of the man dubbed the “black cab rapist”. And they fear he may have attacked hundreds — making him Britain's worst sex attacker.
Police missed a key opportunity to stop Worboys, leaving him free to assault many more women. Those blunders are now being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The 51-year-old former porn star and stripper wept as he was convicted of rape. He was cleared of drugging and attacking two other women.
Worboys, smartly dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and grey tie, who had winked at friends in the public gallery each day, hung his head when the verdict on the rape charge was read out.
The woman who was his girlfriend when he was arrested, 44-year-old Kathy Martin, was at Croydon crown court and sobbed as he was convicted. She had left him after learning of the accusations and has since expressed shock and disgust at his crimes.
Mr Justice Penry-Davey adjourned sentencing until 21 April for psychiatric reports and told Worboys: “You must be under no illusion that this case requires and will get a substantial term of imprisonment.”
Worboys, of Rotherhithe, would cruise the West End and central London looking for victims outside pubs, bars and clubs. He carried a “rape kit” in his car that included champagne, vodka, glasses, drugs, condoms, plastic gloves, a sex toy and bag of cash. He would crush the sedative pills up in an ashtray. Showing his victims thousands of pounds, he would claim he wanted to celebrate a gambling win. He would then offer them drinks or sedative pills, saying they were ecstasy or headache tablets, before climbing into the back.
His victims were typically attractive professional women, aged between 18 and 33, and included a lawyer, hedge fund administrator, journalist, student, advertising director, and an office worker. He sometimes targeted two or three in a night.
Many simply could not remember if they had been sexually assaulted. Detectives believe his victims were too embarrassed to make a complaint. Dozens only contacted police after reports of his arrest and officers expect many more to now come forward. Worboys claimed to be a “crusader” driving the streets of London at night to ensure that drunk women got home safely.
He claimed his lies were just “banter” to attract the female attention he craved after missing out on “cuddles” from his mother, who died when he was 13.
If he was not hailed by a suitable woman he would entice one into his taxi by telling her not to risk a minicab when he could get her home safely, even if she did not have the fare. Worboys used fake names, altered his taxi drivers' identification badge and gave out a false mobile number to avoid being caught.
He had two different characters — switching between John the friendly taxi driver and “Tony” or “Paul” the sexual predator. Detectives said he had the skills of a fraudster and many fell for his act because of the trust the public place in black cab drivers.
Those who were unable to escape would be driven to secluded spots. Short journeys would take hours. When Worboys was finished he would drive them home to be discovered unconscious by their partners or to wake the next day groggy and confused.
Worboys raped one woman and used a sex toy to assault another. He kept trophies from some, writing many of their addresses in a notebook. He would sometimes offer victims thousands of pounds for sex and falsely claimed in court that some had consented to sex acts.
Police bungled a chance to stop Worboys when he was arrested the day after drugging and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student he picked up in Covent Garden in July 2007. He denied anything had happened. Despite damning evidence, Plumstead police released him on bail and failed to proceed with the case.
Worboys went on to attack about 30 more women before he was caught on 15 February last year, when three cases were passed to murder squad detectives. Within days they linked them to the student's ordeal, and Worboys was identified as the main suspect.
When officers raided his home and cars they found the rape kit, along with a vibrator covered in a victim's DNA. Traces of the sedatives they discovered were found in victims' urine and several were able to pick him out in an identity parade.
Worboys's first known victim was in 2002 and the last came five hours before his arrest. Police have linked him to four attacks in Dorset, where he owned a flat. In police interviews Worboys denied any wrongdoing and simply answered “no comment”. Outside the court, Detective Inspector Dave Reid paid tribute to the women who gave evidence. He said: “We will visit him again, for the benefit of those women who don't know what happened to them.”
Worboys had passed the checks needed to become a registered taxi driver because he had no criminal record. The Public Carriage Office, part of Transport for London, gave Worboys's details to police before his first arrest when it was told there was an “allegation of a sexual nature” against him.
But when no charges were brought, the PCO took no action. A spokesman said the organisation was working with police to see what “lessons could be learned”.
