M25 road-rage killer Kenneth Noye will be moved to an open prison after the justice secretary rubber-stamped his transfer.
The Parole Board said last month it was not directing Noye's release but recommended him be moved to "open conditions".
Noye, now 70, was convicted of murdering 21-year-old electrician Stephen Cameron in an attack at the Swanley interchange in 1996.
Following the attack, Noye, originally from Bexleyheath, went on the run and wasn’t arrested until two years later in Spain.
He was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years.
Stephen Cameron was 21 when Noye stabbed him at the Swanley interchange of the M25.
One of Britain's most notorious criminals, Noye had been jailed for handling bullion stolen in the infamous 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery and was released two years before the M25 attack.
The Parole Board's recent advice was passed on to the Ministry of Justice for the final decision and justice secretary David Lidington accepted the recommendation today, August 8.
An MoJ spokesman said: "Public protection is our top priority and transfers to open conditions are made after a thorough, expert risk assessment carried out by the independent Parole Board."
Speaking to The Sun about the possibility of Noye being moved a few weeks ago, Ken Cameron, the father of Noye's victim Stephen, said: "I am totally gutted. It’s devastating.
“If Noye goes to an open prison he will just disappear – no doubt about it.
“I’m sure he’ll have money stashed away and he’ll vanish from an open prison to live out the rest of his days somewhere.
“Our Stephen didn’t get a chance of a life. His fiancée had to change her identity and move away from us and her family. We have all lived a life sentence.
“He should die in prison, and I hope he does.”
In September 2015 the Parole Board refused to order his release but recommended he be transferred to an open prison but this was blocked by then justice secretary Michael Gove.
Earlier this year Noye won a High Court challenge against the refusal decision, which his counsel argued was "unlawful and irrational".
Noye is expected to be moved to the open prison within six weeks.
The Parole Board can consider him for release in 2019, or it could also choose to leave Noye in an open prison or transfer him back.
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