Carrie Johnson says black cab rapist John Worboys' parole bid has failed

Black cab rapist John Worboys will remain in prison after being refused parole for a second time, according to Carrie Johnson, who waived her anonymity as a victim the first time the predator was up for release. The 68-year-old rapist, who changed his name in prison to John Radford, was first jailed in 2009 after being found guilty of 19 sex offences against 12 women between 2006 and 2008. The court ruled that he should be locked up indefinitely for the public’s protection, with a minimum term of eight years. Carrie Johnson, then Carrie Symonds, the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was a teenager when Worboys targeted her at a bus stop. She wrote 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." In 2018, the Parole Board decided Worboys could be freed from prison after serving nearly 10 years, but the ruling was overturned following a legal challenge by two of his victims. The reasons for the reversal of that decision included "risk factors" such as Worboys' "sexual preoccupation, a sense of sexual entitlement and a belief that rape is acceptable". In December 2019, Worboys, from Enfield, north London, was jailed for life with a minimum term of six years at the Old Bailey after he admitted spiking the drinks of four women. He became known as the black cab rapist after attacking victims in his Hackney carriage. Police previously said that they believed the former male stripper committed offences against more than 100 women before being caught. In July 2007, Carrie Johnson was making her way home after a night out with friends when Worboys pulled up in his black cab alongside the 19-year-old waiting at a bus stop. He offered her a lift back to Richmond, despite only having £5, which she accepted. When she got into the car, Worboys claimed he had won some money gambling and offered her a glass of champagne so she could toast to his success. “There was always the slightest doubt this could be spiked so I had a sip but then I poured the rest of it onto the floor," Ms Johnson told the BBC in 2009. Believing that she had drunk the drug-laced champagne, Worboys asked if he could join her at the back of the car and encouraged her to down a shot of vodka, this time unable to throw it away untouched. She said: "I can't remember anything from that point onwards and that's what is so worrying. I believe he got into the front of the cab and did drive me back then straight away. I feel that if I was assaulted I would instinctively know. That's what I hope. "But it's awful not to have that peace of mind to know exactly what did happen. I can 99 per cent say nothing happened but to have that 1 per cent of doubt is terrifying." In 2018, Ms Johnson was a senior figure in the Conservative Party press team and when she heard that Worboys might be released from prison on parole, she waived her right to anonymity and “put her career on the line to spearhead a huge media and political campaign”.