Police killer Roberts wins secret file case

Britain's most notorious police killer, Harry Roberts, won a legal victory yesterday against the Home Secretary in his campaign to be released from prison. Roberts, who has served 36 years for the murders of three unarmed officers, made a High Court challenge over a refusal by David Blunkett to allow his lawyers to see a dossier of "sensitive material" which could decide whether he is freed.

The court was told that Mr Blunkett now agreed that the parole board, not the Home Secretary, should decide if the secret evidence should be disclosed, and exactly who should see it. Roberts' solicitor, Simon Creighton, said: "I think it hard to say anything other than it is a climbdown."

Calls for the release of Roberts on parole are strongly opposed by police, and Mr Creighton said the case had been "delayed at every turn" by the Home Office. "The sensitivity of the case for a politician is probably at the root of this and it highlights the very reasons why these decisions should not be made by a politician, especially one who has responsibility for the police and the prisons."

Mr Justice Sullivan, sitting in London, said he was pleased that the Home Secretary had deferred to the parole board. The judge said it would be "very surprising" if evidence alleging that someone was unsuitable for parole was not disclosed "in some form or other".

Mr Blunkett must disclose the dossier to the board within seven days. The Home Office and Roberts' lawyers then have a week to persuade the board that the material should be made available to the prisoner's representatives. The evidence is thought to relate to police intelligence when Roberts was allowed out on day release to work at an animal sanctuary. He was returned to a closed prison amid concerns over his behaviour. He is now at Channings Wood, in Devon.

Roberts was given life with a tariff of 30 years for killing Detective Constable David Wombwell and Sergeant Christopher Head. His partner, John Duddy, shot Constable Geoffrey Fox.