Wayne Truter, 53, a dual British-South African national, was awarded the damages after arguing that his human rights were violated while he was on licence following a five-year prison sentence for sexual offences against three boys. He had been released early from HMP Leyhill.
During his licence period, Truter was housed in approved premises in Northampton. The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) imposed stringent conditions, including a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew and required him to report to a probation hostel three times daily. These reporting times were specifically scheduled for 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. to avoid contact with local schoolchildren during their commutes to and from school.
Truter's licence conditions also included the confiscation of his passport, preventing him from serving his licence period in South Africa, a request he had made. He contended that these additional conditions were unlawful and unfairly restricted his freedoms.
His initial appeals to his probation officer, Sean Westcott, and the Parole Board were unsuccessful. Westcott reportedly viewed Truter's assertions as arrogant. However, Truter pursued a judicial review, invoking the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
A High Court judge agreed that the additional licence conditions were unlawfully imposed, finding that Truter had experienced 'false imprisonment' in violation of Article 8 of the ECHR, which pertains to the right to respect for private life. The judge, His Honour Judge Tindal, noted that Truter demonstrated a better understanding of the justice system than the Probation Service.
The judge observed that Truter correctly stated the law regarding the imposition of licence conditions, a point that was initially dismissed by probation officers. "Mr Westcott took over Mr Truter's case as his probation officer in September 2018, about a year before Mr Truter's entitlement to release at the end of his custodial term," the judge stated. "I accept Mr Truter's evidence that he argued to the Parole Board they should release him because they could impose additional licence conditions which the defendant (The Secretary of State for Justice) at the end of the custodial term six months later could not."
Truter stayed at the approved premises from September 2019 until the end of January 2020. The judge ruled that while the false imprisonment claim succeeded, resulting in the £2,500 award, Truter's subsequent recall to prison was appropriate. This recall occurred after Truter refused to permit an inspection of an electronic tablet he had used to compile his legal claim. Truter's claim for 'deprivation of liberty' related to this recall was dismissed.
Truter was originally jailed for eight years in October 2014 for grooming and sexually abusing three boys between 2009 and 2013. He groomed the boys, aged 12, 14, and 15, by giving them gifts and sexually abusing them at his home.