In his judgment Mitting J upheld an appeal against a change to the original control order, which effected the relocation of the controlee to Ipswich. He ruled that the Appellant be allowed to return to Crawley – where his family live – subject to strict conditions laid down by the Secretary of State.

This judgment is the latest in a series of court rulings relating to this controversial scheme. The matter hinged on the question of proportionality. Mitting J accepted the existence of the risk posed by the Appellant; however, he concluded that relocation to Ipswich would exacerbate this risk while a return to his family would mitigate it. UK Justice Secretary Ken Clarke recently indicated that following the Government’s review of counter-terrorism legislation, the use of control orders would continue.