Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed that criminals responsible for the deaths of two North East children will be blocked from earlier prison releases. The announcement, made on Sunday morning, introduces changes to the early release scheme that will keep more serious offenders behind bars.
The Chronicle has been campaigning with the families of Archie York and Maya Chappell to prevent child killers from having their jail terms shortened due to efforts to free up space in overcrowded prisons. Mr Burnham confirmed that offenders jailed for all forms of manslaughter and for causing or allowing the death of a child will be excluded from the changes to prison sentences.
Cases of Archie York and Maya Chappell
Drug dealer Reece Galbraith was sentenced to 14 years behind bars after admitting to manslaughter in connection with the huge drugs lab explosion in Newcastle's West End that killed seven-year-old Archie in 2024. Maya died after being violently shaken by her mother's boyfriend, Michael Daymond, at her home in Shotton Colliery in 2022. Her mother, Dana Carr, was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of child cruelty by neglect and allowing the death of a child.
Their families were left horrified after it emerged that both Galbraith and Carr could become eligible for release at an earlier stage of their prison terms than originally planned, amid widespread outrage over the Sentencing Act changes. The Government's announcement on Sunday morning will mean both Galbraith and Carr are ineligible, as well as the killers of PC Andrew Harper.
Families respond to the decision
Archie's mum, Katherine Errington, said: "Manslaughter is a heinous crime and I am so happy that Galbraith will be serving the years he was given by the court. Reducing his sentence to potentially just seven years would have been an injustice. I am so happy that Archie's voice has been heard. These last weeks have been hard and horrible for us as a family, but we were not going to accept it and we have finally got the news we wanted."
More than 8,000 people had signed the online petition Katherine started, calling for offenders convicted of manslaughter or of serious child abuse or neglect offences to be blocked from early release. Maya's great aunt, Gemma Chappell, was also relieved to hear Sunday morning's news. She said: "This shows that the Prime Minister has come in and listened to victims and their families. The PC Harper case has got this conversation going in the wider public with regards to the early prison release scheme for serious offenders. I am so over the moon that we've got this decision. The fact that the PM has listened to the victims, and to the families as secondary victims of these crimes, has shown that he is willing to have that conversation with the public and people like us or Katherine's family. I think this will go a long way to building trust between victims and the Government. It is such a relief."
Scope of the new exclusions
The Prime Minister's intervention will mean offenders in prison for killing an emergency worker in the line of duty will not be released earlier into their sentence. Historic grooming offences, all forms of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and causing or allowing the death of a child will also be barred from the changes to prison sentences.
After entering Downing Street, Mr Burnham had ordered a pause on the early release plans. He later announced that rapists, child sex offenders and those guilty of grooming gang offences would be ineligible, but then promised further action. Speaking on Sunday, Mr Burnham said: "I know how strongly people feel about this issue. I understand the concern and anger because I share it. That's why I took action during my first weeks as Prime Minister to block some of the very worst in society being released before they should. We moved quickly to block vile criminals who commit rape, sexually abuse children and groom vulnerable young people. But I always said I wanted to do more. 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 Government said it would consider how to safely reduce the number of young offenders and women in custody, in order to free up cells for the most serious offenders. It also plans to implement powers early next year to deport some foreign criminals immediately after sentencing. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said: "The Prime Minister and I have rightly looked again at these reforms and we are clear that people responsible for taking a life, or for appalling crimes against children, should be kept behind bars for longer. But protecting the public also means fixing the prison system for good. We will build the cells we need, put offenders under much tougher controls when they leave prison and end the historic injustice of IPP sentences. This is a government running towards problems and not shying away from the tough decisions needed to build a justice system that is firm, fair and protects the public."
