John Worboys is accused of using date rape drugs dissolved in champagne
to "stupefy" his victims before attacking them in the back of the cab.
The 51-year-old, of Rotherhithe, south east London, denies 23 charges
including rape, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent.
Prosecutor Johannah Cutts QC told Croydon Crown Court Worboys attacked
the women in London's West End during an 18-month reign of terror until
his arrest last February.
She said Worboys cruised the streets of central London late at night in
his black cab looking for single women to offer discount lifts home to.
Miss Cutts said: "His primary intent had nothing to do with taking them
home. His primary purpose was wholly sexual in nature.
"His intent was to ensure that they were completely at his mercy and
then to sexually molest them."
She said: "Having each girl alone in his cab was a start but this
defendant wanted to ensure that there would be no struggle, no
difficulty in achieving this aim. How did he do that? He did it by
drugging them."
Worboys employed date rape drugs to render his victims powerless and to
make them forgetful, the court was told.
The jury was told he would tell passengers he had won a large amount of
money either in the lottery or at a casino and sometimes showed
passengers a carrier bag full of cash to back up his story.
She said: "He would begin by engaging the girl in conversation, asking
about her night and the like. Once they were talking, he told her that
he was glad that he had met her as he had experienced some good fortune
that night in that he had won a quantity of cash.
"In most cases he said that this had been at a casino. Sometimes he said
it was by way of the lottery. Sometimes he specified the sum that he had
won. When he did so it was generally a substantial sum."
During the conversation Worboys would invite his victims to share a
bottle of champagne and pour them a glass from the front of the cab,
the court heard.
Miss Cutts said although some passengers did not want to drink, they felt
it would be rude to refuse. Some just pretended, she added.
She said: "The drink was rarely poured in front of them. As the defendant
often had a drink at the same time as the complainant, it seems likely
that he added the drug at the point at which he poured the drink.
"In every case where the drink was consumed in any quantity, it had a
powerful effect."
Worboys would then get into the back of the cab and engage his victim in
further conversation, this time of a sexual nature, as he watched the drug take effect.
Miss Cutts said: "In each case he was able to see when his passenger became
affected by the drug. Many of the complainants remember falling asleep or losing consciousness.
"Most have no recollection of what happened thereafter until they got home,
or in some cases until the next day. Many are not able to say whether they were sexually assaulted or not.
"But the defendant's intent in drugging them was clear. Some of the
complainants did come round a little in the cab having consumed the drink.
"Those that did come round remember the defendant touching them sexually in
some way. One of them remembers him actually having sexual intercourse with
her and was powerless to resist."
When Worboys' home was searched, Miss Cutts said discoveries were made
"which we say showed all too clearly his intent when he went out in his
cab at night".
Police found a "tool kit" inside the boot of Worboys' Fiat Punto that
contained what Miss Cutts said was everything he needed to stupefy and
sexually assault a passenger, including four small bottles of champagne.
courtesy ITN
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