It exposes their bureaucratic and misogynist practices (Pic: Guy Smallman)
A total of 105 women are known to have been raped and sexually assaulted by black cab taxi driver John Worboys.
If the police had believed the first woman who reported her rape, dozens of those women would have been spared.
Believe Me is a four-part series that tells the story through two women, Sarah and Laila. But this is not about victims.
This is about two women, whose lives, yes, were damaged by the rapes, but were so angered by not being believed by the police, that they fought back.
You feel their pain and their anger.
Sarah’s account to the police outlined Worboys’ modus operandi.
He would pick up a young woman after a night out, pressure her into drinking a glass of champagne laced with drugs, rape and assault her, then drop her off at the address she had given.
But the police had an alternative narrative.
A black cab driver would never risk his job by drugging and raping a woman in his own cab, they said.
Instead they insisted that Sarah and Laila had both drunk too much, didn’t remember what happened and had sex with someone else. They said that the drugs in their system weren’t the typical rape drugs.
They would do anything but believe the women.
Eventually, the police arrested Worboys and he was given an indeterminate sentence with an 8-year minimum term. That’s when Sarah and Laila decided to take the police to court under the Human Rights Act for infringing their right not to be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment.
This led to the disclosure of further evidence of police negligence. Sarah and Laila established the right to use the Human Rights Act as a basis for legal action against the police.
Meanwhile, Worboys was intent on getting out. He changed his name to John Radford and turned to God.
Having insisted on his innocence, he then “confessed” and conjured up an explanation for his attacks. He eventually convinced the parole board and got a date for his release.
Sarah and Laila fought back, supported by Carrie Symonds, herself one of Worboys’ victims.
Their dedicated legal team exposed the holes in Worboys’ story and the parole board’s decision was overturned.
Believe Me conveys Sarah and Laila’s trauma and the impact on their lives.
Above all, it exposes the bureaucratic and misogynist practices of the police.
They don’t think it is always “practical” to apply their own guidelines that the starting point is to “believe the woman”.
It’s easier to clear up a burglary than pursue a rapist. Believe Me is a difficult watch, but it is well worth it.
- Believe Me is available to stream on ITVX
