How much trouble is David Gauke in? The Justice Secretary appears to be up to his neck in it in light of the news this morning that a decision by the Parole Board to release the rapist John Worboys has been quashed following a legal challenge by two of the taxi rapist’s victims.
The problem is Gauke decided that the government would not pursue a judicial review to stop the release of the serial sex attacker on the grounds that it ‘had no reasonable prospect of success’. At the time, there was widespread outrage at the decision and so Sadiq Khan, the Sun and several of Worboy’s victims launched legal challenges of their own. Given that the legal challenge by two victims was upheld by the High Court (with a ‘further inquiry’ now due), Gauke’s decision can be described as both politically deaf and plain wrong.
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