Cab rapist John Worboys conviction appeal thrown out

Worboys, a former male stripper, had denied all the offences

A London taxi driver jailed indefinitely for sexually assaulting female passengers has had an appeal against his conviction thrown out.

John Worboys was convicted of one rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted assault and 12 drugging charges.

Worboys, 53, was seeking an adjournment of the appeal against the rape and one sex assault conviction, in order to change the grounds of appeal.

But the Court of Appeal refused and also dismissed his appeal.

'Appalling offences'

The former stripper, from Rotherhithe, south-east London, had approached the court for an adjournment on his leave to appeal, as his legal team had advised him his current grounds to challenge the convictions were "unsustainable".

Worboys wanted a new legal team to instruct scientists "to examine evidence in a way in which it is said it had not previously been examined by the legal team at trial", Lord Justice Moses said.

He ruled: "Advancing unsustainable grounds cannot possibly be a basis for overriding and extending the strict time limits laid down by statute in the hope that the applicant can keep his foot in the door and some time in the future something might turn up."

He added if the adjournment was granted it would create "nothing but anxiety and concern" for his victims as it could imply some "open-ended prospect of some future hearing".

He added: "They need to come to terms with the closure of these appalling offences and if we were to grant an adjournment we would be impeding and inhibiting this process and in these circumstances the application is refused."

Lone victims

But Worboys could attempt to appeal again or approach the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, the court heard.

During the trial, Croydon Crown Court heard that Worboys picked up his lone victims in London's West End and gave them champagne, claiming he had money on the lottery or at casinos.

But the drinks were mixed with sedatives and his victims were unable to prevent him assaulting them.

Worboys, who was jailed for a minimum of eight years, will not be released until a parole board decides he is no longer a threat to women.

Following his conviction, police said he could be linked to 85 attacks in the London and Dorset areas dating back to 2002.