By VennerRoad, 5th Jan 2018
Most people would agree that every sinner deserves a second chance. But how about a third chance, or a twentieth?
John Worboys
In March 2009, John Worboys was convicted of raping one woman, sexually assaulting five, attempting to sexually assault one, and most serious, administering drugs to twelve of them. Worboys had a unique modus operandi, duping them into drinking drugged drinks before assaulting them. The reason the drugging was more serious than the sexual assaults should be obvious to anyone who has ever collected a prescription from a pharmacist. Countless hapless people have been killed by unexpected reactions to prescription drugs. Worboys had no idea of any medication any of his victims may have taken or any of their medical conditions.
When he was convicted at Croydon Crown Court, the trial judge gave him an indeterminate sentence with a tariff of eight years. Although a life sentence would have been appropriate, most people would have expected the eight year tariff to be academic. Charles Manson was denied parole for the twelfth time in 2012, and no one with half a brain cell believed he would ever be released. He died in November last year.
It seems that in the UK, the members of the Parole Board do not have even half a brain cell between them, because on January 4, they voted to parole Worboys. A petition on Change Dot Org opposing this reached three thousand signatures before 6pm the following day, and serious concerns were raised in the mainstream media. One newspaper claimed Worboys had attacked two hundred women. It is not necessary to demonise the man; no one knows how many of his victims did not report him, nor how many late claimants are bandwagoning, but the evidence of his guilt of the charges on which he was convicted is overwhelming. A rapist who attacks three women and uses stupefying drugs to that end needs to be taken off the streets for a lot longer than eight years.
While there will probably be no changing the decision of the Parole Board, there is a way in which Worboys can be put behind bars for good, and there is already a suggestion the authorities may be working towards this. Namely, if he can be tried for any of the alleged attacks that were not brought to court. There is probably an argument that this would constitute an abuse of process, but in his case no one who matters is likely to argue the case with any force.
Sadly, Worboys is only the tip of the iceberg. Double sex killer Colin Pitchfork was given a life sentence in 1988; in 2016, he was recommended for parole, and last year he was moved to an open prison. Last November, he was photographed walking unaccompanied around Bristol city centre, although it appears he will not be parolled just yet.
If you thought Friday The Thirteenth was fiction, you haven’t heard of the Monster of Worcester. On Friday, April 13, 1973, David McGreavy was babysitting for the Ralph family, who had taken him in after his own family had thrown him out. When the baby wouldn’t stop crying, he killed her, then murdered her two siblings, each in a different fashion before impaling their bodies on the fence outside the house.
Because he pleaded guilty there was only a sentencing hearing rather than a full trial; in sentencing him to life with a tariff of twenty years, and as with John Worboys, the judge and most people would have considered this tariff to be academic, yet incredibly McGreavy has also been seriously considered for parole. In 2006, he was allowed day release from prison. Fortunately, this information was leaked, and after he was photographed by a tabloid hack walking the streets of Merseyside, there has been little chance of him being released, although he has kept trying.
Another reason the likes of McGreavy, Pitchfork and Worboys should not be released is because of the likelihood of vigilantism. This should not be condoned, but there are plenty of people out there – women as well as men – who would relish attacking, wounding or even killing men they consider unfit to breathe the same air as the rest of us. This means that when such notorious prisoners are released, they need special protection. Younger people – like the sad Maxine Carr – can be given new identities, but for the likes of Pitchfork and Worboys, this is really a non-starter. The money and resources giving them special protection would be better used elsewhere, namely tracking down similar offenders and keeping them off the streets for good.
The police and CPS fitted up Max Clifford, ensuring he died in prison, and attempted to do the same to Rolf Harris, who might well still be behind bars today but for his private detective William Merritt and excellent QC Stephen Vullo. There are doubtless many other innocent men in prison, convicted of imaginary historical crimes, so when they see the likes of McGreavy and Pitchfork walking the streets, and the likely release of John Worboys, the police might well ask why do they bother?
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