John Worboys: Victim describes 'black cab rapist's' champagne and cash ploy to entrap vulnerable female passengers

Carrie Symonds, 19 when she was assaulted in 2009, says last memory of incident is taxi driver handing her spiked shot of vodka

The black cab of London cabbie rapist John Worboys, who is to be released from prison (Metropolitan Police/PA)

A 19-year-old woman spoke of her ordeal at the hands of John Worboys after he was jailed in 2009, saying she will never really know what happened.

Carrie Symonds was one of the 14 women who gave evidence against him at his Croydon Crown Court trial.

She said he used a similar story to lure her into his cab.

“He approached me and said 'Do you want a taxi?' and I said 'I can't afford it'. I actually had £5 in my hand and I said 'This is all I've got'.

“He came into the back and he brought the champagne and he also brought this stack of cash that he claimed to have won,” she told ITV News in 2009.

Ms Symonds said after drinking one shot of vodka she was “clinging” to the side of the taxi.

She said: “I remember feeling very tired and sort of clinging to the side of the cab. I remember thinking 'I don't want to talk, even'.

“The worst thing is not having peace of mind. I'm 99.9% sure that nothing happened to me but I will never know.”

Another woman, Sarah Craigie, was picked up by the serial sex attacker on separate occasions and believed she was given a spiked drink.

Her case was not included in the charges brought against Worboys.

Ms Craigie, then 32, said she encountered Worboys as she was trying to travel home to Essex from Leicester Square in central London in May 2007.

She said she had been drinking brandy and cola and was upset after a row with her former boyfriend when Worboys offered her a lift.

She told The Daily Mail in 2009: “I told him that I needed to get back to Dagenham but only had £30 on me and that would not be enough.

“He said 'Don't worry darling... I will get you home safe'.”

Worboys had quizzed her on why she was crying and if she had a boyfriend and Ms Craigie told him about the row.

“It was then he said he had enjoyed a great day and had won thousands of pounds at the races.

“He asked me if I wanted to have a drink to celebrate. By that time I had really had enough alcohol but he offered me vodka, champagne, wine - he said he had anything I wanted to drink.

“I said I would have a soft drink and after a while he passed me a can of Coke. After that, the journey became a blur. Within about 20 minutes I was feeling really nauseous and drowsy. I was just dizzy and feeling so out of it.”

Worboys stopped the cab to use a toilet and got into the back of the car next to her.

She said: “The next thing I remember was him being in the back of the taxi with me. He had a white plastic carrier bag full of cash - I have never seen so much money - and he was sipping champagne from a glass.

“He then came towards me - really close - and I felt very intimidated and vulnerable.

“Worboys just kept on invading my personal space and it was then I then got angry.

“I shouted at him 'This just isn't right - you should not be drinking. Just take me home'.”

He drove her home and then left at speed.

Miss Craigie told the newspaper she believes the journey, which should have taken only 30 minutes, had lasted two hours.

PA