is it worth reporting possible historic encounter with John Warboys years later?

[runningoutofnewnames]

In the mid 2000s, a black cab driver picked me up in the City of London, when I was very drunk after a work do.

I was in my 20s, only had enough money on me for the bus home, and was very obviously staggeringly drunk.

He asked if I wanted a cab, I said I had no money and he said no worries, he'd give me a lift anyway.

He drove me towards my home, but then about half way there, he drove into the carpark of some small flats, and offered me whisky, he had a bottle on him.

The whole thing felt off, despite me being so drunk, I said no, got out the cab and walked into the flats to get away from him. He didn't follow me.

I mentioned it to a friend last night (we were talking about stupid risks we'd taken when young) and it got me thinking maybe I should mention it to the police in case it's of any use.

But then, it was years ago, they've got him locked up already and it doesn't sound exactly like reports of his crimes as I read he used to tell his victims he was celebrating after a big win, and this guy didn't try any of that. Nor was he forceful.

Maybe it was some other cab driver taking advantage of young drunk women?

Or maybe he was genuinely being nice (I suspect not but have no proof).

I can remember a couple of things that could probably date it to within a few weeks.

Is this something worth mentioning as it might help or so long ago and so vague it's pointless? Does anyone know about these things?

Hi OP, I wonder this too.

I am sure I got in a cab with him. I hailed the cab on Aldwich, he offered me a glass of Champagne as we crossed Waterloo Bridge saying he'd won some money on the lottery, but wasn't telling his friends/family so had no one to celebrate with.

I was sober (but leaving work late). I turned it down, not because I thought he was predatory, but because I didn't want HIM to have a glass of Champagne if he was driving. The whole thing felt off.

The idea of him having drunk alcohol made me anxious and I asked him to drop me at Waterloo Station under the pretence of having just received a message from a friend asking me to meet them there.

I've always thought that because no crime was committed, and I can't even be sure of a month and year, let alone a date, that it wouldn't be of police interest.

Hi OP, I dont think I would report it. It was so long ago and no crime was committed.

Do you think it would help you stop dwelling on it if you did?

If you trust the Met police to listen to you, and take it seriously, by all means try and tell them.

Unfortunately I ‘m not sure I trust them to do that.

Can you remember what he looked like, OP?

But yes to be fair as the above poster points out, no crime was committed, he has been tried, and potentially the only thing it would be helpful for was if they needed to gather more evidence against him seeking parole at some point. But you never know.

This is awful. Two chilling stories. You’re supposed to be able to trust black cabbies.

Yes, chilling indeed. Thank goodness you OP and NewYearEveryYear both managed to escape safely. I don’t know whether your experience would be helpful to the police or not, but if you felt able I’d be tempted to report it anyway. There’s a small chance it could be the missing link in an investigation. At the least you won’t feel the burden of worrying about whether you should or shouldn’t report it either.

There would be no harm at all in reporting it if it would help you either put the incident to bed, or feel you'd done the right thing. However, I'm not sure any action would be taken at this stage as no crime was committed, thankfully. It might be taken into account if JW appeals his sentence (no idea if he still can) or applies for parole. Alternatively, it could be evidence if there was another, similar, creep going around. You could just put in an online report form.