R v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Another, ex parte Lillycrop ; R v Same and Another, ex parte Powell ; R v Same, ex parte Scott
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 27 November 1996 |
| Date | 27 November 1996 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
Queen's Bench Divisional Court
Before Lord Justice Schiemann and Mr Justice Butterfield
Parole Board - reasons for decision - relevance of continued denial of guilt
In considering whether to recommend for release on licence a long-term prisoner who had served half his sentence, and whose pattern of offending behaviour was such that there was a significant risk of further offences of a violent or sexual nature, the Parole Board was entitled to take into account the prisoner's continued denial of guilt in determining the extent to which he had examined his offending behaviour and had thus reduced the risk of re-offending.
But it was not permissible for the board to refuse to recommend the prisoner's release merely because he denied his guilt, without further consideration of the circumstances.
The demands of natural justice and fairness required that the board's decision letter should contain a succinct and accurate summary of reasons sufficient to inform the prisoner why parole had not been recommended.
A court should examine with care evidence proffered to elucidate, correct or add to reasons contained in the decision letter and only act upon it with caution.
It should not substitute the reasons in the profferred evidence for the reasons in the decision letter.
The Queen's Bench Divisional Court so held in a reserved judgment, dismissing applications for judicial review by Martin Lillycrop and Andrew Jon Scott, and granting Ronald George Powell's application for judicial...
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