Police investigate new allegation against John Worboys

The police are investigating a new complaint of sexual assault against John Worboys, the black-cab rapist, it has been confirmed, as prison authorities moved him to a London jail ahead of his scheduled release.

The impact on Worboys’ potential release is unknown but the move will give fresh hope to his victims that his release may be halted if he is arrested or charged in connection with a further offence.

The Metropolitan police said they were investigating an allegation made this month of a sexual assault 20 years ago. “Enquiries by officers from the child abuse and sexual offences command are ongoing,” the Met said in a statement.

Detectives have already consulted lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service, the organisation responsible for authorising criminal charges in England and Wales, though this does not necessarily mean charges will follow. It is understood the CPS has provided “early investigative advice” to the new police investigation into Worboys.

It emerged on Monday that Worboys had been moved from HMP Wakefield to HMP Belmarsh in south-east London. There had been calls to keep him out of the capital, where he carried out most of his attacks.

The justice secretary, David Gauke, promised MPs that the “most stringent licensing conditions” would be placed on Worboys when he was released from prison and “the concerns of victims will be put at the heart of the process”.

It is understood that Worboys’ release from Wakefield would have been more conspicuous as it is a high-security prison, from which few inmates are directly released. Belmarsh is a mix of high security and a local prison with many daily releases.

At justice questions in the House of Commons, the Tory MP Zac Goldsmith pressed Gauke to “assure us that he will do absolutely everything in his power to ensure that Worboys is released with strict licensing conditions that keep him out of Greater London”.

The justice secretary said the precise conditions of his release would be decided at an operational level. “But let me reassure [Goldsmith] that nearly a fortnight ago I wrote to the relevant authorities stressing the needs to ensure that the concerns of victims are put at the heart of this process, and ensuring that the most stringent measures are taken in place in terms of conditions,” he said.

The Parole Board is able to assess the continued risk posed by prisoners based on psychiatrist and prison guard reports at Parole Board hearings that take place around once a year for each offender. Some of the hearings are oral, some of them written.

In November, a three-person panel of the Parole Board directed the release of Worboys, following an oral hearing. He will be released back into society under strict monitoring on a licence period of at least 10 years.

Parole Board hearings are held in private and reasons for release are not made public, although a consultation is to be launched on how the body shares its decision-making with the public.

The Parole Board is an independent body and its recommendation for Worboys’ release cannot be overturned by the Ministry of Justice.

There are examples of Parole Board decisions being challenged by judicial review in the courts, but only when the prisoner has been denied release.

Read a fuller explainer on John Worboys

Victims of Worboys are pursuing a crowdfunded judicial review to challenge his release. They have asked Gauke to support their legal action.

Richard Scorer, a specialist abuse lawyer from Slater and Gordon who represented 11 of Worboys’ victims, said of the disclosure of the Belmarsh move: “This is extremely distressing for our clients as yet again they have not been informed about developments.

“It’s an absolute disgrace that they are perpetually ignored by the authorities and are not consulted about his release. It is an insult that they have had to find out from the media of every new development in this case and it is crucial that they are kept updated.”