His release in 2014 caused outrage within the Police Federation of England and Wales, who demanded that such a murderer not be released. The then Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, also criticised the Parole Board decision to release Roberts. The daughter of one of the murdered police officers, PC Geoffrey Fox, said she was "sickened" to learn that Roberts was to be released without any prior warning. Mandy Fox described the decision as an "utter disgrace". The then mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said people in the city would be "absolutely sickened" by his release.