Taxi rapist is refused bid for extra time to prepare appeal

A South East London cabbie convicted of a string of sex attacks has been rebuffed in legal attempts to prolong his period of appeal.

Worboys' black cab. Photo: Metropolitan Police

A South East London cab driver convicted of a string of sex attacks has been rebuffed in legal attempts to prolong his period of appeal.

Top judges at the Court of Appeal have accused John Worboys, who was found guilty of 19 charges including rape and sexual assault at Croydon Crown Court in March last year, of attempting to ‘keep his foot in the door,’ in the hope of having his indefinite jail sentence overturned.

Worboys, 53, who worked as a black cab driver, was convicted of a series of attacks on women, in which he plied his victims with drugged champagne before assaulting them.

Police have speculated that Worboys may be responsible for many more attacks – possibly over 100 – during his 13-year career as a cabbie. He will serve a minimum of eight years in jail.

He appeared in court on Tuesday seeking an adjournment of his application for leave to appeal, which would allow his lawyers more time to formulate a new challenge to the sentence.

But presiding judge Lord Justice Moses rejected the petition and criticised Worboys’ legal wrangling, saying: “The proper and only result can be that the application should be dismissed.”

Worboys’ failure to produce a sustainable challenge ‘cannot possibly be a basis for overriding and extending the strict time limits laid down by statute,’ concluded Moses.

“It creates nothing but anxiety and concern in the minds of all those involved in the trial, not least the 12 victims, who would expect the matter to be over and would be surprised, astonished and dismayed to learn of some open-ended prospect of some further hearing.”

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