Carrie Johnson has suggested that the black cab rapist John Worboys could have up to 1,000 victims, as more women have come forward claiming they were assaulted by him.
Mrs Johnson, who helped bring the serial sex attacker to justice, said she had been contacted by additional women who believe they were targeted by Worboys. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she stated: 'The truth is that his crimes span from, what we know, from 2000 up to when he was convicted in 2009. And he was a cab driver for that duration, out potentially every night in his cab, so there could be up to 1,000, if not more than that.'
Worboys is serving a life sentence after being found guilty of luring women into his taxi late at night, pretending he had won money and offering them celebratory drinks laced with drugs. One of his victims was Mrs Johnson, who was 19 when she was targeted by the disgraced cabbie.
His case was recently put to the parole board, who ruled against releasing him, stating he 'continues to represent a high risk of committing further serious sexual offences against women'. Mrs Johnson, one of several women who spoke out to keep Worboys behind bars, described the news of his parole refusal as a 'huge relief' to many survivors.
She told Good Morning Britain that more people have come forward after watching an ITV dramatisation of the case, which 'might really help keep him behind bars for good'. Mrs Johnson urged victims to come forward, saying: 'I think there’ll be women who, like me, were drugged, who might not realise they were drugged, who just thought, God, maybe that last drink didn’t sit well with me, or, or now maybe they’ve seen what’s happened and they think: “Oh well, it’s done.” I would urge them to come forward if they can.'
Who is John Worboys?
Worboys was jailed in 2009 for 19 sexual offences linked to attacks on 12 victims between October 2006 and February 2008 in London. He was given an indefinite sentence for public protection with a minimum term of eight years. Detectives linked him to at least 85 crimes at the time. Following the parole board’s latest decision, it was revealed Worboys has admitted to attacking 90 women.
Worboys turned to cab-driving in 1999 after a 13-year career as a stripper under the name 'Terry the Minder'. He tried to paint himself as a 'white knight' who was the victim of inappropriate advances from female fares while going out of his way to 'get them home safely'. Many of his victims were young women who had been drinking in trendy night spots in London’s West End and Chelsea. Worboys offered them champagne spiked with drugs to celebrate a fictional lottery win, backed up with a carrier bag stuffed full of cash. The drugs left the women unable to protect themselves when he pounced on them in the back of the vehicle.
Carrie Johnson's Experience
Reflecting on her own experience in the Daily Mail, Mrs Johnson recounted the night the cab driver gave her a spiked drink after claiming he had won big at a casino. She said she only drank a small amount of alcohol in the taxi. While she managed to pour one glass of champagne onto the floor, he later returned with a bottle of vodka, which she would discover had also been tampered with. After making it home, she said she 'never made it into my bed. Instead, I passed out in the bathroom, lying in the empty bathtub, fully clothed.'
Years later, allegations against Worboys emerged. A friend of Mrs Johnson contacted her about the case. Mrs Johnson said she was able to identify him in a line-up and provided the police with a mobile phone number he had given her. The publicity around the case led further victims to come forward, and Worboys was charged with more crimes dating between 2000 and 2008, which he admitted. In 2019, he was handed two life sentences with a minimum term of six years. Worboys will be considered for parole again in two years.
