Carrie Johnson got into John Worboys’ cab as a 19-year-old student and made it home, but she only realised what he’d done to her minutes later

Carrie Johnson has spoken publicly about her own encounter with John Worboys, the serial offender known as the black cab rapist. As detailed by LADbible, she appeared on Good Morning Britain on May 20 to recount how, as a 19-year-old student, she hailed a cab after a night out in Chelsea and unknowingly got into a vehicle driven by Worboys. She only realized something was wrong minutes after getting home, when she became unwell and started vomiting.

Worboys had a calculated method for targeting victims. He would pick up women late at night and claim he had just won a large sum of money, showing them a bag of cash to back up the story. He then offered them a drink laced with sedatives including temazepam and nytol, which would incapacitate his victims and leave them unable to recall any assault.

During Johnson’s own experience, Worboys offered her a lift after claiming he had just won big, and she consumed a small amount of the drink before he took her home. Fortunately, she had taken his phone number when she exited the cab, which she later used as evidence against him in court.

She believes the true number of victims could reach 1,000 or more

Johnson expressed concern that the scale of Worboys’ offending is far greater than what has been publicly acknowledged. She noted his crimes spanned from 2000 until his conviction in 2009, and that as a cab driver working potentially every night across that entire period, the victim count could reach 1,000 or higher. She urged any women who may have been drugged but dismissed it as a bad reaction to alcohol to come forward if they are able.

The conversation has been reignited by the four-part ITV miniseries Believe Me, which aired earlier this month. The series focuses on two of his victims, identified by pseudonyms, and examines their legal case against the Metropolitan Police over how the original investigation was handled. Amid a broader wave of coverage around predatory figures, a Tennessee school board member was also charged with assault this week after making inappropriate comments to a teenager. Johnson said she has already been contacted by people who believe they may have been assaulted by Worboys and hopes the series encourages more women to step forward.

Recent news confirmed that Worboys, who now goes by John Radford, would not be granted early release following a parole hearing on May 14. Parole papers indicated the 68-year-old accepted he did not currently meet the test for release and did not wish to make a premature application. The hearing took place behind closed doors despite prior rulings that such proceedings should be made public.

The parole board acknowledged that Worboys claims to feel enormous regret, remorse, and shame, but Johnson said she does not believe he has undergone a genuine change. She posted on X following the decision, saying the relief she feels knowing he will remain behind bars is hard to put into words. Cases involving failures to act on early reports, such as a recent fatal stabbing where a protection order was not yet enforceable, have continued to raise questions about systemic gaps in safeguarding.

Worboys was convicted in 2009 of 19 sexual offenses linked to attacks on 12 women and received an indeterminate sentence. In 2019, he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of six years after additional victims came forward regarding crimes from the same period. Police have suggested he may have drugged and attacked more than 100 women during his 13 years as a taxi driver.