Multi-point magnetic field measurements made by spacecraft in the tail region during the growth phases of two substorms were used to model the magnetic configuration in the location conjugate to the Scandinavian riometer and magnetometer network. Assuming the origin of the observed southward moving band of energetic electron precipitation as due to pitch-angle scattering in the equatorial current sheet, we inferred the half-thickness of the current sheet at r ≈ 9 R_E as thin as 0.1 R_E near the end of the growth phase. Combined with the modelled evolution of the magnetic configuration, this mechanism consistently explains the main features of the electron precipitation.