Whilst no iron rules should be laid down to prevent the nature of the discretionary power in s.40 Criminal Justice Act 1991 there was public interest in making it quite clear to defendants and to the public in general that, if a defendant committed serious further offences or a further serious offence whilst on licence following early release from a previous sentence, there was a real and not simply a theoretical price to pay.

CA (Crim Div) (Lord Bingham of Cornhill LCJ, Scott Baker J, Curtis J)

05/10/1999