 An appeal to free Cotterill had failed, however, he was soon released from prison on 14 February 2007 although he was forced to wear an electronic tag in his home town Barnsley until 11 March 2007.Hoping to re-build his life, Cotterill also thanked the Barrow fans who helped release him.Cotterill also apologised to Sean Rigg saying he "never intended to hurt Sean".