PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain in jail and be excluded from the early release scheme as Andy Burnham confirms anyone convicted of unlawful killing would be exempt
PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain in jail (Image: PA)
Two of PC Andrew Harper’s killers will not be freed early, Andy Burnham has confirmed.
The Prime Minister this morning announced a breakthrough on the controversial early release scheme, which will those behind bars for unlawful killing will be exempted. Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were both convicted of manslaughter after the hero PC’s killing in 2019, were due to be released next year, sparking a furious backlash.
Soon after coming to office the PM announced that rapists and groomers would be excluded from early release, and ordered Justice Secretary Alex Norris to find ways of keeping more dangerous criminals behind bars.
He said: “We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. This means that the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened.
“The truth is I wanted to go even further. But I’ve pushed the system to the very limits of what’s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk. To protect victims, we will be introducing the toughest ever supervision measures for offenders, which effectively mean that someone’s sentence will not end when they leave prison. This includes tagging offenders and, for the very first time ever, putting restriction zones in place to stop offenders getting anywhere near their victims.”
The prime Minister added that extra prison space would be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates serving indefinite sentences.
Bowers and Cole, two of PC Harper’s three killers, were passengers in the car that dragged the police officer down a country road after he got caught in a strap attached to the vehicle as they fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.
Under the scheme the pair were due to be released next year, halfway through their 13-year sentences. The change follows months of campaigning from PC Harper’s family and police colleagues to block the release of his killers.
Burnham told the BBC: “We’ve come up with a proposal which will allow not just those guilty of manslaughter, the people involved in the killing of Pc Harper, but those who have been convicted for indecent assault, those convicted for death by dangerous driving, all of these offenders now will remain in prison. Hundreds of them.
“I heard obviously what Andrew Harper’s family were saying, I mean who couldn’t? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison.”
He concluded his announcement that “hundreds” more people will stay in prison, meaning that additional space will need to be found.
The Prime Minister ordered a review of the scheme, which is being undertaken by Justice Secretary Alex Norris and is set to be published when Parliament returns from summer recess in September.
