CWJ & Birnberg Peirce comment on Parole Board decision not to release John Worboys/Radford: 19 November 2018

The two women Birnberg Peirce represent, DSD and NBV, who brought a judicial review challenge of the Parole Board decision to release him from prison earlier this year expressed huge relief to learn that following a further review, he will not be released or moved to open conditions. 

DSD stated, “I feel vindicated, we were right all along and didn’t make it up.  We knew this man was a danger to women and we felt compelled to take action.  It was the right decision for us to act and thank goodness we did.”

Harriet Wistrich solicitor for the two women sated, “I am not surprised to learn of this decision in light of the Divisional Court judgment in March and the representations that Worboys made at that hearing.  He stated that he would only accept responsibility for having committed the relatively small sample of crimes he was convicted of.  As the court made clear, the Parole Board should take into account what was known of his alleged wider offending, which included a Civil court judgment in our claim against the police which revealed  that 105 had come forward to report attacks by him. Following the news of the earlier decision to release him, several more women contacted me who had not reported him previously.”

It is reported that the parole board refused release citing ‘risk factors’ including ‘sexual preoccupation, a sense of sexual entitlement and a belief rape is acceptable’.  Harriet Wistrich stated, that “these are appropriate factors to take into account where the board is considering the risk that he may continue to represent a danger to women.”