Black cab rapist John Worboys will be freed by the end of the month in a move that has provoked fury among victims' groups and led to calls for reform of the parole system.

John Worboys is feared to have attacked up to 200 women during a horrific spree of sex attacks he carried out on women he drugged in his cab.

Despite getting a sentence which could have seen him locked up for life, he has been freed just eight years in after a controversial parole panel decision he is no longer a danger to women.

The ruling has led to widespread claims of 'soft justice' and fears his victims, some of whom only found out about his release through radio news, are being let down by the system.

It emerged today that Worboys will be moved straight from a high-security jail into a bail hostel where he will be monitored by the end of the month.

Taxi driver John Worboys was jailed for raping and sexually assaulting passengers in 2009. John Worboys married Jean Clayton in 1991, right, before divorcing four years later. Ms Clayton today slammed the decision to free her ex-husband

Worboys' ex-wife, Jean Clayton, 60, today described her ex-husband as a 'dangerous man' and hit out at the parole board's decision to recommend his release.

Speaking to The Sun, Ms Clayton said: 'He should never be let out. The next step would have been murder.

'It’s very scary. He was the biggest mistake of my life. No one knows what I went through.

'He was the worst husband a woman could ever ask for. I realised during our honeymoon that I had made a mistake.'

The pair married in 1991 and Ms Clayton said 'sex-addict' Worboys spied on her teenage daughters as they got dressed.

Worboys was jailed in 2009 for raping and sexually assaulting young women in his black cab.

Police suspect the 60-year-old, who was labelled a 'repetitive, predatory sexual offender' in a probation report, may have abused as many as 200 women.

The Parole Board recommended Worboys' release in a decision which has provoked outrage among campaigners against sexual violence.

The head of the parole system was today also forced to apologise for not contacting some of his victims, who found out he was being freed from radio news.

Jean Clayton met Worboys in 1988 at a pub in Hackney, east London where he worked as a stripper. The pair married shortly after before splitting in 1995

Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of women's sexual and domestic violence charity, Nia, said: 'The police believe that Worboys may have raped more than 100 women, others think this is a conservative estimate.

'He's served nine years and nine months, that's just over a month per rape victim. How can we say justice has been served?

'On top of this, according to the CPS, the proportion of rape reports ending in a conviction has more than halved over the last seven years.

'Whilst this in part reflects increased reporting, it seems to me that the law is failing to deliver justice to too many women victims of sexual violence.

'The rehabilitation of offenders is as important principle, but the law should function to protect liberties and rights of the population and should act as a deterrent.

'Six weeks per rape victim? What sort of a message does this send? I struggle to think anything other than women will be less safe with Worboys on the streets.'

Carrie Symonds (left) was singled out as she waited for a night bus in Chelsea in July 2007. Shown right, one of Worboys' rape kits, including alochol and cups he used to drug victims

At his sentencing Worboys was told he must serve a minimum of eight years in prison for his attacks and would not be released until officials were convinced he did not pose a threat to women.

Yet the 60-year-old's release has been signed off by the Parole Board, despite a pre-sentencing report in 2009 finding that he was 'a repetitive predatory sexual offender'.

Police believe Worboys may have carried out more than 100 attacks, despite convictions for just 12.

Campaigners are now likely to question why further convictions were not sought, as Worboys would likely have been given a much longer sentence preventing him from being released in 2018.

The decision not to pursue new charges and a therefore lengthier sentence would have fallen to Labour MP and shadow Brexit minister Kier Starmer, who served as Director of Public Prosecutions at the time.

Worboys is a former porn actor and stripper who called himself Terry the Minder (left). Shown right, the Hackney flat Worboys shared with his former wife Jean Clayton

Police found a rape kit in the back of Worboys' taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and an ashtray he used to crush the drugs (top right)

Who is who in the Worboys case? Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir, now a Labour frontbencher was the director of public prosecutions at the time of Worboys' conviction. He was probably involved in the decision not to push for more charges. Nick Hardwick Professor Hardwick chairman of the Parole Board, three of whose members decided Worboys should go free. He has defended the work of the Board, but agreed that reform of the system was needed to make it more transparent. Baroness Scotland Baroness Scotland was Labour's Attorney General at the time of the case. The position gave her the power to have the sentence reviewed and potentially increased, but she did not do so. Sir David Penry-Davey The late Sir David, formerly Mr Justice Penry-Davey, sentenced Worboys to the indeterminate sentence. He told him after conviction that he had used a sophisticated approach to carry out his crimes and was a serious risk to the public. Advertisement

Worboys will now have to report to probation staff each week, having spent ten years behind bars and a period on remand.

In 2010, Worboys appealed his conviction, but it was thrown out by the Court of Appeal, as Lord Justice Moses labelled his offences as 'appalling'.

Worboys, a former porn actor and stripper, attacked numerous women during a five-year period between 2002 and 2008.

On several occasions he offered to drive a woman home for a fraction of the normal cost, or even for free, claiming that he lived in their direction.

But once he had them secure in his taxi, the driver – who occasionally used the name Paul or Tony - would put his plan into action.

His constant theme was sex and often asked the women if they would perform sex acts for varying amounts of money, or exposed himself.

He took trophies from his victims, including a wristband from one and scribbled the names and addresses of several others in a notebook.

During the seven week trial, victim after victim told how they felt safe with the middle-aged driver because they were stepping into a registered black London taxi.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the Parole Board's decision

The decision not to pursue new charges and a therefore lengthier sentence for Worboys would have fallen to Kier Starmer, who served as Director of Public Prosecutions at the time

Most of the women were young professionals – lawyers, insurance brokers, office workers or journalists.

One victim was a new mother out celebrating for the first time with her friends.

He offered the women cheap lifts home after nights out, telling them he had just won thousands on a bet and wanted to celebrate.

To aid his pretence, Worboys kept as much as £4,000 in cash stashed in a plastic bag which he showed his victims as evidence of his win.

The rapist would convince the women to share a glass of wine or champagne with them, spiking the drinks with sleeping pills.

The drugs left the women insensible and unable to protect themselves as he pounced on them in the back of the vehicle.

Police also found a 'rape kit' in the back of his taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms, gloves and an ashtray he used to crush the drugs.

Worboys, who called himself Terry the Minder, was jailed indefinitely in April 2009 with a minimum tariff of eight years.

A report published after his conviction found there was a 'mindset' among police that the driver of a black cab was unlikely to be responsible for a sex attack.

The paper by the Independent Police Complaints Commission discovered a catalogue of missed opportunities, errors of judgment and failures by Scotland Yard had left Worboys free to prey on women.

Two of Worboys' victims would go on to win human rights cases in the High Court against the Metropolitan Police in 2014.

The pair – known as DSD and NBV – claimed there had been serious failures in the investigation which led to Worboys to avoid detection and re-offend.

Another of his victims, Carrie Symonds, was singled out as she waited for a night bus after an evening out on the King's Road in Chelsea in July 2007.

Worboys offered to take the 20-year-old home to East Sheen six miles away.

She described how, after making her feel indebted to him for the lift, she drank a glass of vodka he offered her, after which she remembers little.

She thought her drink must have been spiked but had so little memory of what happened that she did not report the incident until February 2008 when police made a public appeal.

Another of Worboy's victims told the BBC today that they were completely unaware that Worboys was due to be released.

Worboys was first arrested in July 2007 after a 19-year-old student reported a sex attack in South-East London. Officers traced him using CCTV.

But instead of turning up at his house unannounced, they arrested him by appointment - giving him the opportunity to get rid of evidence such as his 'rape kit', which contained drugs and drinks.

Police also failed to search his home and taxi. The investigation was later dropped by senior officers.

Kathy Martin, who was Worboys' girlfriend at the time of the attacks said she was unaware of what he was doing in his taxi cab

Sarah Craigie encountered the evil of Worboys in May 2007 after she went to see a former boyfriend working as a DJ in a West End nightclub.

Walking near Leicester Square she was crying and 'in a bit of a state' when she came across a cab rank and Worboys asked if she needed a lift.

'I told him that I needed to get back to Dagenham but only had £30 on me and that would not be enough,' she recalled.

'He said, 'Don't worry darling... I will get you home safe.'

Within five minutes of the journey starting, Worboys had asked her why she was crying and if she had a boyfriend. Miss Craigie - who admits she was drunk - poured her heart out.

'It was then he said he had enjoyed a great day and had won thousands of pounds at the races,' she said.

'He asked me if I wanted to have a drink to celebrate. By that time I had really had enough alcohol but he offered me vodka, champagne, wine - he said he had anything I wanted to drink.

'I said I would have a soft drink and after a while he passed me a can of Coke. After that the journey became a blur. Within about 20 minutes I was feeling really nauseous and drowsy. I was just dizzy and feeling so out of it.'

Miss Craigie rang a friend who advised her to text her boyfriend. She remembers little else until she woke up somewhere near home.

'The driver said he needed to go to the toilet and he got out of the cab and was away for a few minutes,' she added.

The rapist's ex-wife Jean Clayton is pictured left, near her home in Yambol, Bulgaria. Right, Worboys arrives at Sutton Magistrates Court ahead of a preliminary hearing into his rape trial

'The next thing I remember was him being in the back of the taxi with me. He had a white plastic carrier bag full of cash - I have never seen so much money - and he was sipping champagne from a glass.

'He then came towards me - really close and I felt very intimidated and vulnerable.

'Worboys just kept on invading my personal space and it was then I then got angry.

'I shouted at him, 'This just isn't right - you should not be drinking. Just take me home.''

Bungling police who didn't believe black cabbie could carry out crimes A victim of Worboys called for police officers who laughed at her and left her feeling like a criminal to be sacked following his conviction. The former Greenwich University student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked in the back of Worboys's black cab in July 2007. She passed out after drinking spiked champagne and being forced to swallow pills. The woman cannot remember any of her ordeal as she travelled from a Covent Garden party to her New Eltham digs. She spoke after a damning report found a series of appalling police blunders left Worboys free to attack dozens of women. Police found a 'rape kit' in the back of his taxi which including sleeping tablets, condoms and gloves The report found there was a 'mindset' among police that the driver of a black cab was unlikely to be responsible for a sex attack. A paper by the Independent Police Complaints Commission also found a catalogue of missed opportunities, errors of judgment and failures by Scotland Yard left Worboys free to prey on women. The woman said two officers 'just laughed' at her when she told them. She said the uniformed officers were 'intimidating' and 'patronising' and did not take her seriously as they delayed taking her statement and were late collecting CCTV. The woman added police could have stopped Worboys 'a very long time ago' if officers had 'done their job better'. She said she was also poorly treated by a specialist sexual offences investigative techniques officer who gave her false information about the progress of the case. Two crucial opportunities to stop him sooner were missed - in 2003 when a key witness was not interviewed and in July 2007 when his arrest was bungled, his taxi was not searched and he was allowed to go free. The IPCC report said seven women were attacked between July 2007 when he was first arrested and February 2008 when he was finally caught. But police estimate that Worboys, who was known to attack up to three women per night, could have attacked 40 victims in that period. The watchdog found detectives refused to believe victims and one woman said she was laughed at, intimidated and 'made to feel like a criminal' when she reported the attack. Five officers have now been disciplined, but no one has been sacked over the botched inquiry. Instead they received written warnings and 'words of advice' to the outrage of victims who say scores of lives have been ruined unnecessarily. Advertisement

Fay Maxted, chief executive of The Survivors Trust, called Worboys' crimes 'calculated' and 'deliberate' and said it will likely take 'significant resources' to monitor him as he settles back into society.

She said: 'I doubt whether the victims will feel Worboys has served a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his crimes or, at a time when specialist rape and sexual abuse services are struggling with lack of funding and huge waiting lists, that society has supported the victims as much as they needed.'

Sophie Walker, leader of the Women's Equality Party, said: 'The parole board may have satisfied itself that he can be prevented from ruining even more lives, but that will come as little comfort to the more than 100 women who he is thought to have attacked.'

Sarah Green, from the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: 'The decision to release John Worboys beggars belief. It is likely to be the product of a justice system and a society that cannot and perhaps will not deal with rape.'

It is understood all those who were signed up to the victim contact scheme were informed as soon as the parole board decision was made.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper insisted the Parole Board's reasoning behind the decision should be published to allow scrutiny.

She said: 'There are many serious questions why this dangerous man has been given parole after serving such a short sentence for his attacks against women.

'Given the seriousness of this case, the Parole Board should publish their reasons immediately so both the decision and the process can be scrutinised before this man is released. We also need to know what information and support was given to all the victims before this decision was taken.'