Murder victim's family 'devastated' by release of M25 road rage killer Kenneth Noye from prison

The family of the road rage victim killed by gangster Kenny Noye yesterday spoke of their “devastation” at his release by a parole board which claimed he had learned to control his violent temper.

“Life should mean life,” said Ken Cameron, whose son Stephen, 21, was stabbed to death by Noye on a M25 slip road in Kent 23 years ago. “I can’t believe they have made this decision. I hoped this day would never come.”

The family cannot take advantage of new rules that give victims a legal right to have a parole board decision reviewed because the new law enacting it is not due to be introduced until the summer.

The new parole review mechanism was announced after the scandal over the proposed release of black cab rapist John Worboys’ without the knowledge of some of his victims.

His father said last night the family would not be seeking a costly judicial review, their only other alternative to prevent Noye’s release, which is expected within weeks.

Under changes brought in after the Worboys case, the parole board published a summary of its reasons, saying Noye “had demonstrated an ability to deal appropriately with potentially violent situations in prison and was clearly well motivated to avoid further offending in the community.”

It claimed the risk to the public from Noye, who turns 72 on Friday, had reduced due to his “current proven ability to control his emotions,” “clear life goals”, and “improved victim awareness.”

The parole board acknowledged this contrasted with his past “readiness” to use weapons, his inability to “resolve arguments reasonably at key moments in his life" and “unhelpful attitudes” towards the use of violence.

In coming to its decision, the board insisted that through rehabilitation programmes in prison he was now safe to be re-integrated to society.

A career criminal jailed for 14 years for his part in the Brinks-Matt robbery in 1983, Noye was sentenced to life in April 2000 for the murder of Mr Cameron and ordered to serve a minimum 16 years.

He had previously escaped jail in 1985 for stabbing an undercover detective to death after claiming self-defence when he found him in his garden. DC John Fordham was investigating Noye’s part in the Brinks-Matt robbery.

Mr Cameron’s father, whose victim statement was presented to the parole board, said: “He is going back on the streets when he should spend the rest of his days behind bars.

“Stephen was denied a life by Noye on May 19, 1996 when he left him lying in the gutter. And we are the ones who have had to live a life sentence. There isn't a day we don't think of Stephen.'

“Noye can now go and live the rest of his life as a free man while our family still grieve for Stephen every day.  I'm sure he'll head off to a nice little bolt hole in Spain somewhere and live the good life.”

Noye will be on licence for the rest of his life, subject to recall to jail for breaching conditions. These include staying at an agreed address and abiding by “exclusion zones” barring him from anywhee near his victim’s family or meeting old contacts. It is not known if he will be electronically tagged.

In the summer of 2017, the parole board recommended Noye's transfer to an open prison, paving the way for unsupervised visits outside the jail and ultimately his release.

The Ministry of Justice said: “Clearly this will be a distressing decision for the family of Stephen Cameron and our thoughts remain with them.”

A prison source said: “He had violence throughout his life. Is he going to change because he has attended an anger management course? I very much doubt it but only time will tell.”

Read the Parole Board decision in full