Prime Minister Andy Burnham is reportedly exploring every option to block the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers, according to reports. The Government has so far resisted pressure to exempt Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from its early release scheme.
Some 5,000 criminals are due to be let out early to free up places in overcrowded jails, down from 6,000 after exemptions were announced as part of an urgent review of the controversial scheme. But under current plans, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences after they were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following PC Harper's death in 2019.
Government source confirms Burnham's stance
A Government source told the Telegraph that Mr Burnham is prepared to 'explore every option' to keep Cole and Bowers in jail. He is now understood to be taking further advice from officials at the Ministry of Justice on the PC Harper case, The Times reports. That is understood to include the possibility of excluding manslaughter sentences from the scheme.
Mr Burnham said earlier this week he had 'pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing' by excluding sentences for 'rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences' from eligibility.
PC Harper's death and family reaction
PC Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019. He died after getting caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary. The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for release.
PC Harper's family have expressed anger and disappointment at the decision not to exempt Cole and Bowers from the plans as well. His widow, Lissie Harper, said the news her husband's killers could be released early was 'another gut punch'. She said: 'The sentences Andrew's killers received were pitiful — and the fact we are hearing these absurd reasons for early release like prisons being too full is disgraceful and disgusting. The people making these decisions should be utterly ashamed of themselves.'
His mother, Debbie Adlam, said she was 'crushed' by the news and told ITV News the release would make emergency workers feel 'completely unvalued'. More than 780,000 people have signed a petition to stop the release.
