Believe Me on ITV: Where is Black Cab Rapist John Worboys now, and if he'll ever be released as he approaches 2026 appeal
His sickening crimes have been dramatised in a new ITV series
Believe Me on ITV reexamines the heinous crimes of serial rapist John Worboys, and shines a light on how the system let down his victims – but where is he now?
In the new four-part dramatisation, Daniel Mays has the difficult task of portraying the so-called Black Cab Rapist, one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history. It tells the story of how the Met police failed his victims, by not believing them. Crucially, John Worboys continued to prey on vulnerable women for years.
As a convicted criminal and known sex offender, John Worboys targeted women while posing as a ‘respectable’ licensed taxi driver. The drama focuses on the ordeals of Sarah (Aimée-Ffion Edwards) and Laila (Aasiya Shah), who reported sexual assaults by Worboys. However, the Metropolitan Police failed to thoroughly investigate their allegations.
John Worboys would pick up women in his cab after they’d been on a night out. He’d then claim he’d had a win at a casino or on the lottery, then coerce them into drinking a glass of Champagne to help him ‘celebrate’. However, he laced the drink with drugs. Once his victims were unconscious, he raped them.
Here’s where John Worboys is now, and if he’ll ever be released.
What was John Worboys convicted of?
Police eventually arrested John Worboys amid mounting evidence against him. In 2009, a judge convicted him for crimes including sexual assault and drugging with intent against twelve women (with their cases selected from a large number of suspected further victims). The crimes took place between 2006 and 2008.
During the trial, John Worboys pleaded not guilty to all 23 counts brought against him. He insisted the sex was consensual. Nevertheless, a jury found him guilty as a result of glaring evidence – including witness testimony from 14 victims.
The judge convicted him at Croydon Crown Court on March 13 2009 for attacks on 12 women – one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges.
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However, police believe he may have had more than 100 victims, maybe even up to 500. In April 2009, a judge sentenced John Worboys to a lengthy prison sentence. He received an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection with the minimum custodial term set at eight years.
Mr Justice Penry-Davey said he should not be released until the Parole Board decided he no longer presented a threat to women.
Black Cab rapist John Worboys appeal
On January 4 2018, the BBC reported that John Worboys was to be released from prison. The Parole Board had decided to approve his release with “stringent” licence conditions after a hearing about his case in November 2017.
He would have to report to probation staff every week and was barred from contacting any of his victims. John Worboys’ period on licence would last for at least 10 years. If he breached any licence conditions, he could be sent back to jail.
Unbelievably, his victims were made to fight again to keep him behind bars – just eight years after he was convicted for his crimes.
At the time, Carrie Johnson (née Symonds), spearheaded a huge media and political campaign pushing for an unprecedented judicial review of the Parole Board’s decision. The campaign, spearheaded by several of his victims, was successful. The decision to release John Worboys on parole was subsequently quashed. In November 2018, it was announced he would remain in prison. For now.
Carrie Johnson said: “I hope Believe Me serves as a wake-up call to the police, the CPS and the parole board. Far too often, women and girls are failed by the very institutions meant to protect them.”
Where is John Worboys now?
The Black Cab Rapist John Worboys is currently still in jail, and goes by the name of John Radford. He is 68 years of age. He changed his name in an attempt to disassociate himself from his crimes, and to hide his notorious identity. The rapist also claims to have found God.
Following his trial came the realisation that he was linked to allegations of further sexual offences against over a hundred women. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to attacks on four more women and received two more life sentences.
He is now serving two life sentences, imposed in 2019 after a legal battle overturned his 2018 release. Convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting women, he is held in the high-security prison HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire, having previously been held at HMP Belmarsh. While behind bars, he’s taken part in a sexual offenders treatment program, based on psychologists’ recommendations.
However, there have been doubts raised about his true repentance.
Will he ever be released?
Harriet Wistrich, Solicitor and Director Centre for Women’s Justice, previously said that the earliest the convicted sex offender could apply for parole was 2025. Of course, that was last year.
She explained: “The date of 2025 is when he can apply for parole. It is then a matter for the parole board to assess whether he remains a risk. I know the women I represented and others who were his victims consider he is a very dangerous man. And I am not sure anything would convince them that he no longer poses a risk to women.”
She added: “The extent of his offending and his ability to manipulate others combine to suggest that he will remain a risk to women moving forward. As he has been given a life sentence, if he is ever released he will be subject to license conditions. He can potentially be recalled to prison at any time if risk factors were to increase following release.”
Harriet represented two of Worboys’ anonymous victims and helped fight the parole board’s decision to release him early.
Parole hearing in 2026
The Parole Board granted the application for a public hearing in the case of John Worboys, which was due to be held on 9 and 10 June 2026. However, the oral hearing has now been cancelled, and the parole review will be concluded on the papers.
This is because John Worboys submitted a request to have his parole review concluded via a paper hearing which has been considered and granted by the Parole Board. His case will therefore no longer be heard at a public hearing.
The paper review will be listed in due course. The decision from the paper review will be published on the Parole Board website. During the paper review, the panel will “carefully examine a whole range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as seek to understand the harm and impact the crime has had on the victims”.
‘This isn’t someone who should be back on the streets after eight years’
Talking about the reason he wrote Believe Me, Jeff Pope said: “I first became aware of the story when it came around to the campaign to keep Worboys in prison after his parole was up for review in 2018.
“A group of women had gone through what they’d gone through, finally this serial sex attacker had been put away… And then they had to fight to keep him in prison, which seems so unfair and demoralising for them. I mean, the police knew he’d assaulted over 100 women. This isn’t someone who should be back on the streets after eight years. So that really grabbed my attention.
“I just remember thinking, they had to go through it twice – that’s what had an impact on me.”
Read more: New documentaries and true crime on TV and streaming in May 2026
