The former head of the Parole Board, who was forced out over the quashed decision to release the rapist John Worboys, has said the justice secretary, David Gauke, has failed to take responsibility for his department’s failings in the case.



Nick Hardwick, who was forced to resign by Gauke, said three high court judges had made it clear that a dossier of evidence supplied by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to the Parole Board panel considering Worboys’ release did not contain sufficient detail on Worboys’ alleged broader offending.



Downing Street sources indicated the prime minister still had full confidence in Gauke.



Q&A What is the Parole Board? Show The Parole Board is an independent body that carries out risk assessments on prisoners to determine whether they can be safely released into the community. It manages the early release of prisoners serving fixed-length sentences of four years or more; the release of prisoners who are serving life sentences or indeterminate sentences for public protection; and the re-release of prisoners who have been given life or indeterminate sentences and were then re-imprisoned.

Some prisoners seeking release may have to attend a hearing before Parole Board members. Up to three members of a panel will decide whether to release the prisoner based on a file of documents including information on the inmate’s behaviour in prison, their plans once released and risk of committing further crimes. Medical, psychiatric and psychological evidence can also be heard. As well as the prisoner, a solicitor, psychologist and witnesses could attend. The victim of the prisoner’s offences may also be present. The Parole Board has 234 members who make the assessments and decisions and employs 120 members of staff to support them.

Independent members of the Parole Board rallied round Hardwick to defend his record and express anger at his forced resignation.

The judges’ comments came in a ruling handed down on Wednesday that overturned the Parole Board’s decision to release Worboys and ordered a fresh hearing, prompting the effective sacking of Hardwick as chair of the board.

The Parole Board should have looked more closely at Worboys’ other alleged offences, the judges said. Worboys was convicted of 19 offences, including rape, against 12 victims but police believe he may have attacked more than 100 women.



Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, Hardwick, who has received the backing of the QC representing the victims who brought the judicial review, stopped short of calling for Gauke to resign but said the minister must take responsibility for his department’s mistakes or the right lessons would not be learned.

“The dossier that the panel received from the secretary of state – that was the secretary of state’s responsibility – didn’t contain sufficient information about those other alleged offences,” Hardwick said.

The MoJ has said there was detail in the information supplied, but Hardwick said: “I don’t think the Ministry of Justice is being correct in this. The judgment is very clear that the dossier provided to the panel by the secretary of state didn’t contain all the information it should have done and the secretary of state’s representative – who is at the panel – didn’t in any way suggest the panel should have considered those other matters.”

Hardwick said it was the “widely held practice” of the Parole Board at the time not to look at offences for which a prisoner seeking parole had not been convicted.

“I didn’t resign willingly, I resigned because the justice secretary said I had no choice,” he said. “I accept that the Parole Board was at fault in these matters. I don’t accept we were any more at fault than the Ministry of Justice and I don’t believe the right lessons will be learned from this case if the only people accepting any responsibility for the things that went wrong here is us.”

A Downing Street spokesman said: “This case has clearly exposed issues with the parole process as a whole. We share these concerns. The secretary of state has set out a number of steps he plans to take.

“He has apologised. He has been clear the system hasn’t worked for the victims in this case. He said he acknowledged that and apologised for it.”

Victoria Scott, an independent member of the Parole Board appointed under Nick Hardwick’s chairmanship, said: “I am disappointed and angry that he has been forced to resign.

“On his watch the Parole Board cleared the longstanding backlog: dealing with 25,000 cases and holding over 7,000 oral hearings in 2017 whilst at the same time keeping the rate of serious further offending at less than 1%.

“Throughout his time in post Mr Hardwick worked tirelessly to increase understanding of the Parole Board’s work and pushed for greater transparency.

“He championed increased engagement with victims. He was a powerful advocate for a truly independent Parole Board and we need that now more than ever.”

The Ministry of Justice is reviewing six cases in the year to April 2027 in which prisoners were released from maximum security – that is, category A – jails.



An MoJ spokesperson said: “The Parole Board told the court that six category A offenders had been released in the year to April 2017. The secretary of state has asked the department to verify that there are in fact six cases of Category A prisoners that were released – and to check if there were any concerns in those cases and in any other release decisions from Category A since (April 2017).”

Worboys, 60, now goes by the name John Radford. He was jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years, and has spent 10 years in jail.

Gauke was appointed as justice secretary, replacing David Lidington, in January’s cabinet reshuffle, days after the Parole Board announced its decision on Worboys.