been recommended by the parole board. However, in the High Court, Mr Justice Lavender accepted a legal challenge in February 2017 that Gove had "failed to give proper or adequate weight to the recommendation of the Parole Board". Edward Fitzgerald, QC, acting for Noye, said during the previous month's hearing that the board had "noted that he had made significant progress in changing his attitudes and tackling his behavioural problems". Counsel for the Justice Secretary, Tom Weisselberg, QC, said Gove had doubted Noye had reformed, and considered there was the risk he would escape because of his connections to Spain. it was announced in August 2017 that Gove's successor David Lidington had agreed Noye should be moved to open prison conditions. It was said by the parole board that this change was not in preparation for Noye's release. Around March 2018, Noye was moved to HM Prison Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey, which is a low security prison with a day release provision for prisoners. In May 2019, the parole board announced that Noye was "suitable for return to the community" and would be released from prison within about three months. On 6 June 2019, then aged 72, Noye was released from prison after serving 20 years for the M25 attack. The parole board said that his release remained a risk due to "his readiness to carry and use weapons" and because Noye was "not being able to resolve arguments reasonably at key moments" as he "did not always control extreme emotions well”. Hatton Garden robbery link In 2016, it was reported that the leader of a gang who carried out the Hatton Garden heist was a former top lieutenant of Noye. The man, Brian Reader, had been charged alongside Noye for murdering undercover police surveillance officer John Fordham, in the grounds of Noye's home in 1985. Like Noye, Reader was acquitted of Fordham's murder. However, he was convicted of conspiracy to handle stolen property and cash from the Brink's-Mat robbery, for which he received a nine-year jail sentence in 1986. Personal life Noye's wife, Brenda, lives in the east Cornwall town of Looe. They have two sons, one of whom, Brett, was banned in 2013 from being a company director for 12 years for his part in a £2.4 million investor deception scheme involving a rat poison company. Noye's villa in Atlanterra, southern Spain, which was purchased