A last twitter thread on John Worboys and then I want to leave this behind me - and get back to tweeting about sea turtles and otters
It is a huge relief that Worboys is remaining behind bars for the foreseeable future. I can’t tell you what a relief. But there are still questions that need answering.
How did two parole board panels (made up of 3 people) come to such different conclusions about Worboys?
Obviously you have to account for human error. People make mistakes, sure. But this case does seem to me to be pretty black and white.
Here is a summary of the reasons why parole board 1 felt Worboys no longer posed a threat. We were told this in court during the judicial review. 
Now compare this with a summary of the reasons parole board panel 2 decided he was NOT safe to release
How did parole board panel 1 get it so spectacularly wrong? We surely need an explanation so we can be confident it won’t happen again?
Thanks to the judicial review and Sir Brian Leveson PC, the law has been changed. From now on victims will receive a summary of the reasons behind a parole board decision. This is a such a massive step forward - although I still think it’s totally crazy this didn’t happen before
I personally believe we should consider going a step further. At the moment we don’t know who is on parole board panels. I have no idea who was on parole board panel 1 or 2. But why shouldn’t we know who they are?
If we name our Magistrates and Judges who send people to jail, what is the point of concealing the names of Parole Board panel members who decide whether to release them or not?
Parole board members need to be able to do their jobs in a safe environment but if they are subject to threats or abuse, then that is rightly a matter for the police to deal with - but fear of it can’t be used to stop the public's right to know who makes decisions on their behalf
Everyone in public life receives abuse. Even more so with bloody twitter. But why is the parole board unique in deserving anonymity? The parole board should be accountable to the people they serve.
And so we still don’t know who was on parole board panel 1 and why all three of them felt Worboys should be released. I don’t want them vilified. Truly. I imagine they feel pretty bad about it already. But I do want to be reassured this won’t happen again.
Maybe this isn’t the answer but if not, I’d like to hear a better reason than I’ve heard so far as to why not.
There is a real opportunity now to change things for the better and restore people's confidence in the justice system. Until we know why two parole board panels came up with SUCH different conclusions, I’m sad to say I don’t have full confidence in the system.
Too often it feels like everything is stacked against the victim. That's certainly how I felt. We need to change that.
