The John Worboys verdict is a triumph for justice

The John Worboys verdict is a triumph for justice, and a huge credit to the victims who so bravely brought their case to court. This rapist is staying in prison and a fresh parole board will now review his case. With the court recommending that someone with judicial experience should be on the panel, one has to hope that it will come to a more sensible verdict.

The other good news from today’s proceedings is that the Sun, who I write a column for, has won its case against the blanket ban on revealing the details of the Parole Board’s decision-making. This greater transparency is hugely to be welcomed. If you want to maintain public confidence in the judicial system and in the early release of some prisoners, then you need to be able to show how these decisions are being made. You can’t simply expect the public to trust the operations of an organisation whose workings it can never see. 

Transparency should lead to fewer poor decisions being made, one struggles to imagine that a parole board that knew its workings would be subject to public scrutiny would have recommended Worboys’ release, and to greater public confidence in the system.