Blunkett halts Carr's early release
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David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, intervened yesterday to prevent Maxine Carr being released early from prison wearing an electronic tag.
Carr, jailed last month after the Soham murder trial, had applied for release under the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme. If her application had been approved by Holloway prison, north London, she could have been freed next week, 135 days early.
But Mr Blunkett ordered a change in the rules, taking the decision away from governors in "exceptional cases". This led to accusations that he had taken a "political" decision under media pressure. Carr, 26, was jailed for three and a half years on 17 December for conspiring with Ian Huntley, her former boyfriend, to pervert the course of justice. She will automatically qualify for release after serving half of her sentence, including timeon remand. That entitles her to be out by 17 May.
Paul Goggins, the Prisons minister, said yesterday that to maintain public confidence in the scheme, convicts who were potentially dangerous or had a history of sexual offending were barred from applying for HDC.
Martin Narey, head of the National Offender Management Service, which will replace the Prison Service in June, will take the final decision on controversial applications.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation union, Napo, said: "This is a political decision, because the rules of a scheme that has worked perfectly well have been changed in order to cover a notorious prisoner.
"It is a dangerous precedent. It would allow the press to determine whether a high-profile prisoner is released."
Roger Smith, director of the pressure group Justice, said: "The Government shouldn't be responding simply to press coverage. However, the notion of public confidence in the curfew scheme does seem relevant."