Was I Lined Up To Be One Of John Worboys Early Victims?

53yr old John Worboys was in The Sun Newspaper on Tues 26th October 2010 being called Officially The UK's Worst Sex Predator with at least 102 victims, he was convicted in March 2009 of sex attacks on 12 girls , he was already suspected of 83 attacks including the 12 he was charged of doing between 2002 & 2008 but the MO rang a bell and reminded me of a black cab incident I had either 15-20years ago I'd have to go through 5years of page a day diary's to pinpoint when it was, but if it was him he was doing this as long ago as 1990- 1995 if he wasn't a black cab driver then it is possible another driver was using this method & maybe befriended fiend  Worboys and taught him his methods I don't know for sure, but here was the info I emailed a Sun Journalist covering the case, when the information hot-line on the case wasn't working, he gave me a number to call Scotland Yard with on the case, but nobody ever got back to me, maybe due to the fact that I evaded an assault, or maybe they didn't think the time scale matched up, but below is the info I sent The Sun Journalist, on March 14th 2009 re the memories his MO dragged up, let me know what you think.......

Was This The Friendly Cabbie Who freaked me out?

Re John Worboys 0800 121 4441 number didn't work

I tried calling the free hot-line number printed in today's Sun but it made a dead noise every time I dialled.

The reason for my call is I think I got in Johns Cab 10-15yrs ago & if I am right & he was working as a cabbie then, it is possible his reign of terror could be from a lot earlier than 2007, the incident has been playing on my mind since the case came to light & I feel bad I made no complaint re my cab ride all those years ago (as if it was him, it might of nipped things in the bud & saved some girls if I had, but I was younger then & had no idea if there was a black cab body to put complaints to, and if I'd be in the right to)

This is what I recall, I was living in north London at the time I think (if it was south London  it would been longer than 15yrs ago) I got a black cab from the west End back home (as I didn't want to get a mini cab, when I was a lone girl in her 20's) the driver looked about 5 - 10yrs older than me & was chatty.  A while later I suddenly realised he was pulling up in quite a quiet isolated side street & suddenly felt uneasy, though I was careful not to show this (as I knew rapists, murderers etc got off on the  fear of their victims) 

He said he was just popping out and getting a coffee from a cabbie pit stop & would of course turn the meter of while there, and asked if I wanted a coffee? I said no, as in spite of his explanation I felt uneasy (why did he not ask if it was OK to take a coffee break mid journey before I got in, when I flagged him down ? or mention it mid journey, before pulling into road, which looked residential, to see if I was OK with it, I thought) 

He came back with TWO coffee's even though I had said I didn't want one & sat in the back with me, which also I was uneasy about, but I didn't let it show & I was friendly & chatty (as I knew women sometimes deterred their potential attackers by befriending him) he was really nice & friendly & chatty, but something really made me uneasy about the situation, the place looked residential not like a cab pit stop, although there was another empty black cab parked ahead, on opposite side of road, it looked more like a maze of flats, & I wondered if he'd popped indoors & made those coffee's himself in polystyrene cups? he said was I going to drink my coffee? and I lied & said "thanks but I am allergic to coffee" adding "Your welcome to have mine too!" 

He replied that he couldn't drink too much coffee as he can't stop mid taxi fare for toilet breaks (but yet you can for coffee breaks it seems?! I thought) he then opened the cab door & poured what would of been my coffee into the gutter, which made me think I was right to avoid it. He then said if I preferred a proper drink he had a bottle of white wine in the front of the cab, as he had had a lucky break & had a big win on Bingo earlier that night, one of the national games & had bought a couple of bottles to celebrate at the bingo club, but had one left that had got opened but not fully drank & he had some plastic cup's if I fancied wine instead?? .... 

I congratulated him on his win & joked that for once he didn't need a tip for his fare for a change, I turned down the wine, saying I didn't like wine & eventually after what seemed like an age he got back in front & continued the fare. 

I know his other victims said he said he had casino / lotto wins, but he definitely said Bingo to me (& if it was John maybe this was his 1st attempts before finding a successful story/situation)  I got him to drop me off at a neighbours house, as I just felt uneasy about him & didn't want him knowing my address, the entrance to the neighbours house was shielded so he couldn't see I'd not gone inside I waited 10 - 15mins after he had driven away then walked to my door. 

He had been friendly all along, but I had felt uneasy from the moment we pulled into that street & I wasn't sure whether I was right, or was being overly cautious, but then thought no more about it, until this case came to light. I have written a page a day for years & have been going through mine trying to see if I could find a write up in my diary on the incident, with no luck so far, as it was a long time ago, so I cant narrow down year, or month, to find correct diary easier, nor can I remember where I went earlier that night, to help me pinpoint it, but if I do I will inform you. 

If he has only been a cabbie for a few years, I guess it can't be him but the pattern is so akin I think it must be him, unless he got his technique from another rapist black cab friend?? Looking back over what I just wrote I wonder if it was his flat & if I'd drank the coffee or wine if I'd of been drugged and taken to his flat, where maybe the driver of the other black cab was waiting, one thing is for sure I have a gut feeling, my gut instinct to be wary & not accept that drink, stopped something bad going on that night!!


June Smith