MoJ says victims will be contacted shortly and asked to make any representations to Probation Service

Lawyers for victims of the serial sex attacker John Worboys reacted with anger after it emerged they have not been consulted on the terms of his release licence, which are due to be discussed on Thursday.

One victim was told on Wednesday by the Probation Service that if she wanted to make representations she should do so “urgently” – in effect within hours.

The victim, who has not been named, has expressed “grave concern that no prior notification has been provided to proven victims and indeed to many further alleged victims”, her lawyer said. He said that consultation should be a matter of routine.

Late on Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice said the discussion about the management of Worboys’ case on Thursday would not be the final meeting and that conditions were yet to be set by the Parole Board.

It also said that some of the victims who signed up to the Victims Contact Scheme (VCS) would be contacted shortly and asked if they would like to make any representations, and that victims who had opted out of the VCS could opt back in.

An MoJ spokesperson said: “The licence conditions for John Worboys have not been finalised, and he will not be released until victims have had an opportunity to make representations to the Parole Board on his licence conditions.”

Victims have said they are living in fear that Worboys may approach them, and several of them have said they want the 60-year-old banned from entering the Greater London area, partly because when he was arrested the police retrieved his address book containing many of the victims’ details.

One told the Guardian: “Worboys knows where I live. How do I know he’s not going to come after me? I’m terrified. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Richard Scorer, from Slater and Gordon, which represented 11 of Worboys’ victims and alleged victims, said: “It is unbelievable that Worboys’ victims have not been consulted on their attacker’s licence conditions when they are living in fear of his release.



“Considering the shambles of this sorry episode so far, it is inexcusable that all victims have not been asked to make representations about his restrictions. Our clients already felt betrayed by the way they have been treated by the criminal justice system; they now feel like they are being treated with the utmost contempt.”

The alleged situation compounds what was widely seen as a blunder by the Parole Board last week when it failed to inform all of Worboys’ victims that he had been granted parole.



He is expected to be released at the end of this month after serving nine years and nine months for drugging and sexually assaulting 12 women, including raping one of them. Police suspect he may have attacked more than 100 more women in total, using his black taxi to pick up victims before drugging them with laced champagne.

The justice secretary, David Lidington, conceded on Sunday that “news of the Parole Board’s decision to order Worboys’ release must have reawakened the most appalling memories”.

Scorer said the apparent failure to seek his clients’ views on his licence conditions was “an absolute disgrace”.

“We demand that all victims – those involved in the criminal trial and those who were not – are consulted before Worboys’ licence conditions are finalised,” he said.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.

As well as demanding an exclusion from the capital, the victim and alleged victims are requesting that Worboys is banned from approaching any proved or alleged victim under any circumstances.

The Probation Service has already indicated that his licence will include a ban on approaching victims without the agreement of a supervisor.

But Scorer said that suggested there might be circumstances in which agreement would be granted, “yet it is inconceivable that any circumstances could arise in which it would be appropriate for Worboys to approach any proven or alleged victim”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The licence conditions for John Worboys have not been finalised, and he will not be released until victims have had an opportunity to make representations to the Parole Board on his licence conditions.”