Secretary of State for Justice v Glyn Razzell

Facts

Linda Razzell disappeared on 19 March 2002 after setting out for work in Swindon; her blood was later found in the boot of a car her husband, Glyn Razzell, had borrowed that day, and her remains have never been found. He was convicted of her murder and on 14 November 2003 was sentenced to life imprisonment, the trial judge, Pitchers J, treating the killing as planned and carried out in cold blood. The Court of Appeal rejected his appeal. His tariff was set in 2008 at 16 years less time on remand and expired on 12 September 2019. He has always denied the murder, refuses to identify where his wife's remains are, and maintains a website and online search for her. Transferred to open conditions in November 2017, he accumulated over 1,200 successful releases on temporary licence but undertook little accredited offending-behaviour work. Three earlier Parole Board reviews refused release, the third, in October 2023, finding on the balance of probabilities a history of intimate partner violence towards Linda. A fourth panel, sitting on 19 and 29 January 2026, directed his release on 12 April 2026. The Secretary of State for Justice, exercising for the first time the power in section 32ZAA of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, directed the Board to refer that decision to the High Court, which heard the referral under the modified Part 8 procedure in CPR Part 77 over two days in August 2026.