Despite having the power to release an adult defendant from prison under the electronic tagging provisions, the Secretary of State for the Home Department was under a duty not to exercise that power where a sentencing judge had expressly imposed identical sentences on two co-accused (one aged 17, the other 19) to reflect their equal criminality without first considering the effect of such release on the fairness of the younger defendant's continued detention.

CA (Crim Div) (Judge LJ, Silber J, Crane J)

30/03/2000