Maxine Carr, jailed after the Soham murder case, has applied for early release wearing an electronic tag, prompting the Home Office to change the rules which govern the scheme, it emerged today.
Ministers announced that the final decision on whether an inmate was eligible for so-called Home Detention Curfew will be taken away from prison governors in "exceptional cases".
Prison sources confirmed that Carr had already applied to be freed early from Holloway prison in north London, just 28 days after being jailed for conspiring to pervert the course of justice in the Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman murders.
Carr was the live-in girlfriend of Soham Village College caretaker Ian Huntley, convicted of murdering the girls.
"A recent case has highlighted the fact that...there will be exceptional cases where an offender may be considered unsuitable...if to grant HDC would undermine public confidence in the scheme," said prisons minister Paul Goggins in a written Parliamentary answer.
"This will depend on the circumstances of the particular case."
Under the new arrangements, the head of the National Offender Management Service - the organisation which will replace the Prison Service in June - will have the final say.
Carr will be eligible for release on Monday May 17th, having served half of her three-and-a-half year sentence, including 16 months on remand.
Offenders serving less than four years are allowed to apply for HDC providing they are non-dangerous and have not been convicted of sex crimes.
They wear a device which sets off an automatic alarm if they fail to observe a curfew, usually at their home from 7pm to 7am.
Mr Goggins went on: "Public confidence in the scheme is essential.
"It is for this reason that the Home Secretary has already made it clear that offenders serving sentences for certain current offences and prisoners with any history of sexual offending must be considered unsuitable for release on HDC unless exceptional circumstances exist."
A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "The Maxine Carr case prompted us to make these changes but her case will still be judged on its merits."