Release of black cab rapist John Worboys blocked after legal challenge by victims
BLACK cab rapist John Worboys will stay in jail for at least another fortnight after victims won a last-ditch court order yesterday halting his release.
The Parole Board had ordered the fiend, 60, be freed after incredibly ruling he was safe to re-enter society.
But today a judge at London’s High Court blocked the move until a further court hearing next month.
It means Worboys, who cops fear claimed as many as 200 female victims, will remain in London’s maximum security Belmarsh prison for now.
The next hearing is set to take place between February 6 and February 8.
Mr Justice Supperstone will then rule on whether lawyers for two victims can pursue a full judicial review against the Parole Board’s “irrational” decision to release Worboys.
If the victims win that round of the legal battle, it may lead the court to extend its order blocking Worboys from going free.
The Sun and The Daily Mail have also launched their own lawsuit demanding the Board disclose its top secret report on the monster, something victims want too.
Last week we revealed how the serial rapist had been moved 203 miles south from HMP Wakefield, West Yorks, to Belmarsh.
He is also now at the centre of a new probe by Scotland Yard after a new victim came forward alleging she had been assaulted by Worboys in 1997.
Last night the lawyer who won yesterday’s court order, Harriet Wistrich, said: “I haven’t even had time to tell the victims yet but they will be delighted.
“Bringing this case was the last thing they wanted to do because they didn’t want to go through the ordeal again.
“But they feel under a duty to do all they can to keep him off the streets.” Neither the Parole Board or the Ministry of Justice opposed Ms Wistrich’s application.
Worboys was given a minimum sentence of eight years on his conviction in 2009, but has served less than nine years behind bars.
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