Taxi driver guilty of rape!!

From Times Online
January 22, 2009
Woman tells of 'sex assault' at hands of black cab driver


The first alleged victim of a licensed taxi driver who prowled the streets looking for young women to drug and assault told a court today how she woke up screaming in his vehicle with his hand up her skirt.

The 26-year-old woman said that she thought the cab driver, John Worboys, was "quite a nice generous sort of chap" after he pulled over and offered her a lift as she walked home after a night out with friends in the early hours of the morning in October 2006, Croydon Crown court was told.

But after accepting some pills he said would help for a hangover and drinking a glass of his champagne, she blacked out in his taxi, the jury heard, and had "no idea what was going on" when she woke up.

The court has heard that Mr Worboys attacked 14 women in a 16-month period after looking for potential victims coming out of nightclubs and pubs and then offering them drinks spiked with powerful sedatives so that he could sexually assault them.
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'All she could do was moan that she wanted to go'

One woman awoke to find him having sex with her, while another described Mr Worboys exposing himself, the court has heard.

After getting into his taxi the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that they began chatting and the driver told her that he had won money at a casino.

"He was a chatty guy," she told the court, adding that she had said to the driver that she was expecting a hangover the next day having been out drinking with her friends for several hours.

She then accepted pills from him that looked like paracetamol, the jury heard. He then asked her to have a glass of champagne with him to celebrate his casino win.

"I guess because I was feeling quite jolly and ridiculously trusting I didn't think that much of it and we stopped in a side street round the corner from home."

The pair then got out and he poured her the champagne. "I was feeling quite relaxed about it all, it seemed quite an entertaining conversation, he was asking about me and chatting away and I obviously had my defences down. I was quite enjoying this strange, late night drink."

Mr Worboys is then said to have offered her more pills from a bag he produced, which seemed similar to the victim to the ones she had just taken. "This bit is a bit hazy, I just remember thinking, 'Oh God' at the time."

She said that she then wanted to go to the home of her boyfriend but could not remember where he lived. "Nothing was connecting in my brain properly and I was feeling quite tired at this stage," she told the court.

After trying to find her boyfriend's house without success, they started heading towards her home in Fulham, West London.

"The next thing I remember is him in the back of the cab putting his hand up my skirt. I just felt his hand on the top of my leg and that's when I suddenly opened my eyes and starting shouting," she said.

"I screamed at him to get off me and said 'What are you doing?'. I was completely lost and had no idea what was going on. He said he was trying to wake me up and I had fallen asleep.

"I don't really feel that was the way you would wake a taxi customer up.

"I remember I was screaming at him to take me home or let me out. I can't remember what happened, but I think he got out of the back and into the driver's seat."

She told the court that she did not remember how she got home but the next day felt awful. "I felt pretty horrendous, like I had been decapitated – just nothing made any sense. I felt really dizzy and I could not have named a chair. I didn't know what was going on."

She discovered that her pants were soiled and dialled NHS direct for help. They advised her to go to the police, the court heard.

She was examined and her clothing taken, but she decided not to take things any farther, wanting to "close the whole thing away".

But in Easter last year, she was contacted by police to say that the case had been reopened because there was an increasing number of women who had come forward with "similar stories". Mr Worboys was eventually charged with administering a substance and attempting sexual asssault on the alleged victim who gave evidence today – a charge he denies.

The defendant, from Rotherhithe, southeast London, also denies one charge of rape, 14 charges of administering a substance with intent, one charge of attempted sexual assault, six of sexual assault and one of asault by penetration.

The trial continues.

This case has attracted the international news media and it's the worst kind of publicity that our trade can get IMO. It was on Sky News all day yesterday. Bad news but you can never tell about people I guess.

A CABBIE repeatedly told a passenger "you’ve made my night" before drugging and sexually assaulting her, a court heard today.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2173377.ece
John Worboys, 51, is accused of picking up the 21-year-old office worker in his taxi and spiking a glass of champagne he gave her with date rape drugs.

Worboys allegedly told his victim he'd won £47,000 in a casino.

He repeatedly kissed her on the face and lips as she struggled to fend him off on the back seat, she told Croydon Crown Court.

Worboys had collected her from London's Regent Street where she had been out with friends at a work leaving do.

The woman, now 22 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he was a "regular" and "very friendly" cab driver.

'Blacked-out'


But she can remember nothing of her night after sipping the champagne, barring his attempts to kiss her.

He even held up an envelope stuffed with cash to prove the story about his lucky win.

She told the jury how she joked with her driver about getting a free ride home.

"I didn’t believe him and then he showed me the money," she said.

"He kept saying ’it has made my night picking you up’.

"I said that was a stupid thing to say because it should have made your night winning £50,000."

The woman should have been going home in a pre-booked mini-cab.

But the car had left without her because she was delayed making sure her friend got in to a car safely.

She was left to flag down a black cab for the short journey home to Tufnell Park, north London, in the early hours of June 29, 2007.

The office worker said she was "tipsy" but not drunk.

During the journey home Worboys allegedly offered her a glass of champagne and pulled up on the side of the road to drink with her.

"I was in the back of the cab, I remember getting out the cab and seeing the outside of the cab but this is where, I don’t remember this very well," she said.

The woman never saw the drink being poured, although it took "a couple of minutes" before she was handed a plastic cup.

She began to feel disorientated as she drank with the driver in the back of the cab, who was swigging direct from the bottle.

And then she said the cabbie tried to kiss her several times, but she felt unable to push him away.

She told the court she has no further memory of the night, until waking up at 10am.

Several months after the incident the woman’s friends told her to contact police after reading a newspaper report about a woman with a "similar story".

"It was only when I had my ID parade that I thought this could be the same person," she said.

The woman is said to be the fourth of 14 victims of Worboys.

He used a mixture of over the counter medicine and a powerful tranquiliser in spiked champagne, to sedate his victims in a bid to sexually assault them, it is alleged.

His attacks include six alleged sexual assaults, one rape and one attempted sexual assault between October 2006 and February last year.

He was arrested in July 2007 following an alleged attack, but was released after it was decided not to continue with the case.

He went on to attack seven more women before finally being caught in February last year, it is alleged.

Worboys, of, Rotherhithe, southeast London, variously denies 23 charges of administering a substance with intent, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and attempted sexual assault.

The trial continues.

Mr Worboys is accused of attacking 14 women


A taxi driver accused of drugging and sexually assaulting female passengers has admitted in court giving women champagne and lying to them.

John Worboys, 51, of Rotherhithe, south-east London, also admitted sexual activity with some customers but denied spiking their drinks.

He told Croydon Crown Court he made up stories about winning money at casinos as "banter" to engage their interest.

Mr Worboys denies 23 charges, including rape and sexual assault, on 14 women.

The black cab driver told the court he was a retired stripper who craved the attention of women after the death of his mother from cancer when he was a teenager.
I used to wait until I had a good £2,000 or £3,000 with me and I used to sort of make up a story
John Worboys, defendant


Speaking in his defence, Mr Worboys admitted he gave a false name - often his stripping stage name Terry - and invented details about his background, such as attending university, where he lived, and winning money at casinos, to aid conversation.

He told the court: "I used to wait until I had a good two or three thousand pounds with me and I used to sort of make up a story that I won money in the casino or lottery.

"I used to show it to them and ask if they would celebrate with me and have a drink, either champagne or wine, just to celebrate my winnings."

He said he would make the offer of a drink on his last job of the night so as to stay under the drink drive limit and "99%" of women accepted.

Asked if he had engaged in sexual activity with passengers in his cab he said yes, but told the court: "To my knowledge they have never been drugged.

"I just would not do that."

'Attention and cuddles'

Speaking about his "odd" behaviour, he told the jury: "I think it is due to my mum dying when I was young.

"I lost her when I was 13 and all my friends were getting attention and cuddles and stuff like that."

Prosecutors claim Mr Worboys spent 18 months preying on young women he picked up outside nightspots across central London in his black cab.

Mr Worboys told the court he picked up some women he feared would be targeted by illegal minicab drivers.

He described showing one such woman he picked up in Chelsea's King's Road a plastic bag full of cash he claimed to have won at a casino.

"To make a woman interested, it's no good just having £100 in there," he said.

They drank a miniature bottle of Tesco Champagne before he drove her home, he said.

However, Mr Worboys said she suddenly began swearing at him, adding that he could not understand why.

During another trip with another alleged victim, the 19-year-old had told him she was a "poor student".

Mr Worboys said: "I turned round and said 'you're a pretty poor student, have you considered glamour modelling'."

The case continues.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7901944.stm

More taxi sex victims 'to emerge'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7943339.stm
Worboys has been told to expect a "very substantial" jail sentence


Police are expecting more victims to come forward after a taxi driver was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting female passengers.

John Worboys, 51, of Rotherhithe, south London, was convicted at Croydon Crown Court of attacking 12 women.

Officers say Worboys is linked to 85 attacks in the London and Dorset areas dating back to 2002.

But they fear there could be hundreds more victims and have appealed to them to come forward.

The BBC's crime correspondent, Ben Ando, said police sources had indicated that Worboys might have attacked in excess of 200 women.

Outside court, Det Insp Dave Reid, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "There may be some women who have had experience of Mr Worboys who have not yet reported that matter to the police.

"I would ask any women who have anything to report to us that they do so." I can't remember anything from that point onwards
Carrie Symonds

Worboys victim speaks out


Det Insp Reid praised the "courage" of the 14 women who gave evidence in court.

Police have opened a special phone line - on 0800 121 4441 - for women to call if they believe they may have fallen prey to Worboys.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission will examine the way the case was handled after it emerged Worboys was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in July 2007 but no further action was taken.

He was held at a police station in Plumstead, south-east London, but released on bail.


In February last year he was arrested for a second time, which led to the charges on which he was convicted.

The court heard how the licensed hackney cab driver picked his lone victims up in London's West End and gave them champagne, claiming he had won large amounts of money on the lottery or at casinos.


Detective Inspector Dave Reid asks for other women to come forward

He was convicted of one rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges committed from July 2007 to February 2008.

Worboys had denied all the offences and was also cleared of two drugging charges.

Trial judge Mr Justice Penry-Davey adjourned sentencing until 21 April for reports but told Worboys to expect a "very substantial term of imprisonment".

Prosecutors said Worboys targeted 14 women in total over 18 months until February 2008.

Worboys admitted lying to the women and offering them drinks but claimed he did it because he craved female attention in the wake of a series of failed relationships.

But police discovered a "rape kit", including gloves, alcohol, glasses, drugs, condoms and a sex toy concealed in a plastic bag in another vehicle at his home.

'Dangerous and evil'

Carrie Symonds, who was 19 when she got in a taxi driven by Worboys in 2007, told the BBC that he gave her champagne and a vodka shot.
Police seized bottles of spiked alcohol


"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."

The Crown Prosecution Service said it was grateful to the victims who came forward to give evidence.

And Commander Mark Simmons, head of the Metropolitan Police's violent crime directorate, stressed it was still safe for women to go out in London.

"To find someone who is in a position that is generally regarded as almost being one of trust as a black cab driver who abuses that trust, this is highly unusual," he said.

"We advise anyone going out late at night to take sensible precautions to make sure they get home safely. But we're not in any way changing our advice around the use of safe forms of travel at night."

Scumbag, I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

stf wrote:Scumbag, I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

Hear hear!!!