Facts: A, who was 70, had been convicted of the murder of his wife and, on release, purchased a dwelling in a sheltered housing scheme. At the time of his trial, a report prepared for the CPS indicated that A was unlikely to re-offend and the Parole Board recommended his release on the expiry of his tariff. The probation service took the view that A’s prospective accommodation was only suitable if the fact of his conviction was made known to the accommodation manager.

Judgment: Beatson J quashed this decision: the probation service was entitled to reach its own assessment of risk and how to manage it and, despite the difficulties of making disclosure to a person who was not a public body, and constrained by public law duties, was able to disclose information on a confidential basis, in the knowledge that obligations of confidentiality were enforced by the courts. However, its risk assessment had failed to start from the correct starting point, under the MAPPA guidelines, that there had to be a pressing need for disclosure, and it had failed to balance the need for disclosure against the potential harm to the claimant.