Black cab rapist John Worboys will remain in prison after being refused parole

Published: 11:48, 14 May 2026 | Updated: 11:56, 14 May 2026 Black cab rapist John Worboys will remain in prison after being refused parole for a second time.  The 68-year-old, now known as John Radford, stalked London's West End in a cab before offering his victims sedative-laced champagne and attacking them. He lured women into his cab late at night, pretending to have won the lottery before asking them to help celebrate his winnings to make him appear more interesting. Worboys told psychiatrists he had been 'fantasising' about his crimes since 1986, and was motivated by 'hostility towards women'.  He was able to continue offending due to a string of police mistakes after 10 women reported very similar allegations between 2002 and 2008. In 2009, he was jailed indefinitely, with a minimum term of eight years for 19 sex attacks on 12 women. He was cleared for release by the Parole Board after 10 years without his victims being informed. Officials had failed to take into account evidence he had attacked 105 women.  But a decision to release Worboys in 2018 was reversed by the Parole Board after widespread public outrage which sparked other victims to come forward.  In 2019, he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of six years after more victims came forward. The serial sex offender made a fresh bid for freedom during a closed-doors hearing this week, despite pleas from his victims to hold it in public.  Black cab rapist John Worboys will remain in prison after being refused Parole. The 68-year-old serial sex attacker has been refused parole The coward had moaned that being scrutinised in public would prevent him from giving proper evidence. Reacting to the news, Carrie Johnson, the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said: 'It has been a hugely anxious wait knowing that Worboys was up for parole again. 'The relief I feel hearing 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.' Mrs Johnson, 38, is believed to have been the prolific sex offender's youngest target when he picked her up after a night out on the King's Road and plied her with spiked vodka. The media consultant and charity advisor, who has four children with the former Conservative Prime Minister, was in her first year at Warwick University when the terrifying incident took place. She was waiting at a bus stop when Worboys offered to take her home for just £5, professing to live just around the corner. He proceeded to tell her that he had won some money at a casino and offered her a glass of champagne to celebrate, which she promptly poured away when he wasn't looking. He then stopped the cab under the pretence of needing to go to the toilet and was gone for 10 minutes, which Mrs Johnson later realised was him stalling for the drugs to kick in. Worboys is played in the new show by acclaimed TV, film and stage star Daniel Mays (pictured) When he realised that they hadn't, he pressured her into having a shot of vodka, which she begrudgingly agreed to. She made it home and then collapsed 'like a rag doll' in front of her mother, then 'crawled into the bathroom and became very sick,' with her 'head spinning so much that I told my mother I wanted to die.' It wasn't until six months later, when Mrs Johnson read that a black cab driver had been arrested, accused of raping numerous women that she 'froze' and 'knew it was him.' Mrs Johnson was one of nearly 100 women who came forward to the police and one of 14 who was selected to go to court to testify, deciding to waive her anonymity. Worboys crimes have been portrayed in Believe Me, a new four-part series on ITV, starring Daniel Mays and Miriam Petche. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.