Road-rage killer Kenneth Noye has been released from prison after a parole board panel concluded he was “suitable for return to the community”.

The 71-year-old, who was held in Standford Hill open prison in Kent, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years in 2000.

He stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death on a slip road to the M25 in Swanley, Kent, in 1996, in front of Cameron’s 17-year-old fiancee.

Noye then went on the run to Spain, claiming he could not get a fair trial in the UK, before he was extradited back to Britain and convicted.

Ahead of his release on Thursday, the parole board’s decision said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Noye met the test for release and was suitable for return to the community.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We understand this will be a distressing decision for the family of Stephen Cameron and our thoughts remain with them.

“Like all life sentence prisoners released by the independent Parole Board, Kenneth Noye will be on licence for the remainder of his life, subject to strict conditions and faces a return to prison should he fail to comply.”

Noye’s release is subject to the following licence conditions:

• To comply with requirements to reside at a designated address, be of good behaviour, and report as required for supervision or other appointments
• To comply with other identified limitations concerning contacts, activities, residency and exclusion zones
• To continue to address “defined areas of risk.”

If Noye fails to comply with his licence conditions and shows that his risk is increasing, he faces being recalled to prison.

In reaching the decision, the panel considered a 439-page dossier of written evidence.

Witnesses who gave oral evidence included Noye himself, his community-based probation officer and a psychologist employed by the Prison Service.

The panel also considered a “victim personal statement” which “set out clearly the impact that Mr Noye’s crime had, and continues to have, on his victim’s family”.