Andy Burnham has said he will pause Labour’s plan to release prisoners early after backlash over the eligibility of two men involved in the death of PC Andrew Harper.
Urgent review announced
‘No prisoners will be let out under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimise risk to the public,’ the new Prime Minister said. ‘Where changes are needed, we will not hesitate to make them.’
The scheme, which would see some 6,000 criminals released early from September, would have seen the early release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers who were in the car that dragged PC Andrew Harper to his death in 2019.
Widow's criticism
It comes after the constable’s widow Lissie Harper criticised the early release scheme as ‘deplorable’.
PC Harper was 28 years old when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.
Sentences and eligibility
The driver of the vehicle which caused PC Harper’s death, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence, and will not be eligible for the scheme. Early release could be on the cards for Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were passengers in the car and handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2020. Both men were eligible to be released from prison after serving half of their sentences, rather than two-thirds.
