Former Downing Street spin doctor Andy Coulson was released from open prison today after serving less than five months of an 18-month sentence for a phone hacking conspiracy.
The disgraced ex-editor of the now defunct News of the World will wear an electronic tag until he has served half of his full sentence, as a condition of his early release.
Coulson, 46, left through a side exit of Hollesley Bay open prison in Suffolk at around 8am, evading the attention of waiting reporters. One prisoner said he had wanted to avoid “doing the walk of shame”.
The journalist, who served part of his sentence in high-security Belmarsh prison, was jailed at the Old Bailey after being found guilty of plotting to intercept voicemails between 2000 and 2006.
A prisoner at Hollesley Bay today said that Coulson taught English and mentored fellow inmates in jail: “He was very well respected by the other inmates and prison guards. “He taught reading and helped with a mentoring scheme. In his spare time he also played some badminton and generally handled his time inside well.”
