A former police officer who was one of the first responders to the death of PC Andrew Harper has accused the Government of "spitting in the faces of police officers" by potentially releasing his killers ahead of schedule.
Chris Bushnell, who was serving as a police constable at the time, shared a cup of tea with PC Harper on the very day he lost his life while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.
Brutal killing
Newlywed PC Harper, 28, became entangled in a strap fastened to the rear of a vehicle and was dragged along a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.
Mr Bushnell was waiting in a lay-by for the suspects' vehicle when he witnessed it dragging his colleague's body in its wake. He gave chase but was instructed to stand down via radio. Within minutes, he received word that PC Harper had been killed.
Mr Bushnell broke his silence in a statement issued by Thames Valley Police Federation, as a petition calling for PC Harper's killers to remain behind bars surpassed 880,000 signatures. The statement was released before it emerged late on Monday night that Prime Minister Andy Burnham had requested his Justice Secretary to "work through further options" to prevent the early release of the killers.
Guilt and anger
In the statement, Mr Bushnell said: "I will never get over it. The guilt. That feeling of 'what if?' Today, I feel pretty much how I felt the day after it happened. This news about the sentencing – and the offenders being released early – has brought it all back again."
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following PC Harper's death in 2019. Yet under current early release proposals, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to walk free in January – halfway through their 13-year sentences.
Around 5,000 prisoners are expected to be released early under the sentencing reforms, reduced from 6,000 following exemptions announced as part of an urgent review of the scheme. Downing Street stated on Monday that it is "not possible" to exempt "one or two offenders" convicted of manslaughter from early release, despite mounting pressure over the decision.
No remorse
No 10 maintained that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is "far from accepting the situation" but played down the likelihood of a specific carve-out to keep Cole and Bowers behind bars. The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not qualify for early release.
Mr Bushnell, who was serving in the West Berkshire dog unit when PC Harper was killed, said: "I've seen people die before. I've seen suicides. This was beyond brutal. It was awful." He visits the scene annually to pay his respects and has received counselling and support from the Police Federation.
Recounting the court hearings he was required to attend, Mr Bushnell said: "They were mocking it. The second time they were in the cells, but we heard they weren't even paying attention. There was no remorse at all. It was almost a joke to them. Nothing serious. If you have an accident, if you kill someone, you show remorse. I just can't comprehend it. And for all this to be coming up again now is unbelievable. It stirs up all those emotions once more."
Government response
Mr Bushnell, who retired from Thames Valley Police in 2022, added: "We can't change the verdict. They got their sentences, which were pretty pitiful, to be fair. When I first heard a couple of weeks ago there was a chance they could be let out early, I was shaking. It brought everything back. To think they could be released early is absolutely outrageous. I'm angry with them, but I'm also angry with the Government. They're spitting in the face of police officers."
He said it is "appalling" that they could be freed ahead of schedule and the Government "has to understand that this was the death of a police officer". He added: "They have got to serve their full sentence. Andy did his duty that night. The least they can do is show him some respect." An early release also "belittles" the officers who were left traumatised by the brutal killing and "makes them feel worthless", while doing "nothing" to bolster the service's efforts to combat crime, he added.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The death of Pc Andrew Harper was a horrific crime. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we share the anger from the police community that we are in this position. Thanks to tireless campaigning by Andrew's family, Harper's Law means that anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime now gets a mandatory life sentence. This Government has gone further by introducing a presumption that anyone convicted of murdering a police, prison or probation officer is handed a whole-life order. We have been clear that we wanted to go further and block more offenders from getting out sooner into their sentence but could not do so without risking prisons reaching capacity and collapsing. If that happened, police could not make arrests, courts could not remand offenders and there would be unchecked criminality on our streets."
