Carrie Johnson, wife of former PM Boris Johnson, has opened up in new detail about her terrifying encounter with the black cab rapist, John Worboys, who has been refused parole this week
Carrie Johnson was only 19 years old when she had a terrifying encounter with one of the UK’s most notorious rapists. After a night out with her friends in Fulham, years before she married former prime minister Boris Johnson, Carrie was just a girl waiting at a bus stop, heading back to her family home in Richmond, when John Worboys pulled up next to her in his black cab.
Falsely claiming to live in the same direction as her – he was actually from Enfield, North London – he offered a lift home, telling the young Carrie, then Symonds – that he hated the idea of a woman out alone in the night. She had only a fiver in cash on her, but he said that he’d be happy to accept this token offering for the fare. No idea what was to await her in the back of his black cab, Carrie wrote in the Mail that she initially felt insanely lucky that this seeming Good Samaritan was offering to help her out, with a trip in a cab something that was way out of her budget as a young woman.
This week, John Worboys, 68, – who has changed his name in prison to John Radford – was refused parole for a second time, something Carrie, 38, called “excellent news” in a post on X, admitting it had been a “hugely anxious” time for his victims as they waited to see if the rapist would be set free. “The relief I feel knowing that he will remain behind bars is hard to put into words. Women and girls across Britain are safer as a result of this decision,” the communications director wrote.
READ MORE: Black cab rapist John Worboys denied parole for second time – ‘excellent news’READ MORE: ‘I got in John Worboys’ black cab 20 years ago and ITV’s Believe Me mirrors my story’
Worboys, known as the black cab rapist, might have committed offences against more than 100 women, police have previously estimated. He was first jailed in 2009 after being found guilty of 19 sex offences against 12 women between 2006 and 2008 – and Carrie was one of the 12 women who bravely provided testimony to secure his conviction.
A new TV series for ITV Believe Me has dramatised the tireless fight of the victims to get justice, in a system that repeatedly failed them, with actress Miriam Petche taking on the role of Carrie. The 38-year-old has written a revealing new article for the Daily Mail, providing haunting new insight into the fateful journey she took in the back of Worboys cab.
He claimed – as he did to many of his victims, a pattern that would eventually lead to Carrie identifying him to the police successfully – that he had won big at a casino, and was looking to celebrate, offering the then-19-year-old Champagne. Carrie writes that she had always been something of a lightweight, so whilst she politely accepted the glass, she slowly poured it away onto the carpet of the taxi’s floor.
Carrie admits that she was not scared of him – at least not at first – and in fact she had been happy for his alleged big gambling win, which he tried to prove with a bag of money in the passenger seat up front by him as he drove. “I even felt a bit sorry for him,” Carrie wrote. “Here was this man who had apparently won thousands at a casino on his own and now, seemingly with no family or friends to celebrate with, wanted to share a drink with me.
“His manner wasn’t threatening in the slightest. On the contrary, he came across as awkward – almost shy at times. Looking back now, I realise just how manipulative he was. He was a professional conman.”
The communications director points out that back in 2007, when the cab ride took place, there was far less public awareness of date rape drugs: which meant that she was not suspicious that he might be trying to spike her – instead she was saved by her own aversion to the idea of having more alcohol.
After he had had handed over the drink, and believed Carrie had consumed it, he tried to turn the conversation to topics of a sexual nature, asking her a horror question in a sinisterly jovial tone if she would accept money in exchange for sexual favours. Worboys, a former stripper, told the young Carrie she should consider a career as topless model, with the conversation leaving the young woman incredibly embarrassed.
He then told her that he needed to stop the cab to go to the toilet. Carrie didn’t feel she had any recourse to complain, because Worboys had basically offered her a free lift home. “He pulled up near Putney Common and got out,” Carrie writes. “It was pitch dark and totally deserted. He was gone for what must have been nearly ten minutes – an awfully long time to take a quick pee. So long, in fact, that I called my boyfriend to tell him about my strange cab journey and let him know I would be home soon.
“Only later would I realise what Worboys was doing. He was waiting for the drugs in the champagne he believed I had drunk to take effect. Totally oblivious to the danger I was in, I watched as he returned to the cab.”
But Worboys did not take up his previous position in the drivers seat, instead, vodka of bottle in hand, he climbed in next to Carrie. The young woman’s discomfort immediately shot up, and she insisted she had to get home because her mother who she lived with would be worrying – but under duress, after Worboys insisted, she drank a shot of vodka after he said he would give her £50 to do so.
Worboys must have been confused about why the spiked champagne he had given Carrie had taken no effect on her, but after she consumed the vodka and once again told him she had to get home to her mum, he hesitantly began to continue the journey. Carrie remembers little of the rest of the drive back to Richmond, but, in a wildly stupid move that would leave to his downfall, Worboys insisted she write his phone number down.
Once she was safely inside, she became violently ill. She couldn’t speak and vomited relentlessly, eventually passing out in the bath and only waking up at 3pm the next afternoon. Carrie still had no idea that she had been spiked by a prolific rapist – thinking instead her reaction had simply been down to the fact she did not consume alcohol often, particularly not spirits.
But months later, a pal told Carrie that a newspaper report about an alleged rape committed by a cab driver was eerily similar to her own experiences. Carrie got in touch with the police and because he had given her his number, and she could ID him in a suspect line up, he was successfully identified.
The court ruled in 2009 he should be locked up indefinitely for the public’s protection, with a minimum term of eight years. But in 2017 it was announced he would be getting parole after a private hearing. Carrie bravely waived her anonymity, and launched a campaign alongside other victims to ensure Worboys remained locked up. The Conservative Justice Secretary at the time, David Gauke, said the government would not challenge his release, and the Ministry of Justice said at first that the parole rules were fair. “I felt particularly heartbroken by this given my role working to support the government at CCHQ. It was so obvious the system was letting victims down,” Carrie admitted.
Further victims of the sick rapist came forward and he sentenced to two life sentences with a minimum term of six years for his sexual offences against four women.
If something sexual happened to you without your consent, or you are not sure, you can talk to Rape Crisis England & Wales. It does not matter when it happened.
If you need support, please contact Rape Crisis’ 24 hour sexual abuse support line. You can contact them at any time, day or night, all year round, on 0808 500 2222
