A police chief has said there is a “glimmer of optimism” that Pc Andrew Harper’s killers will be blocked from the early release scheme. Thames Valley Police Federation Chair Aileen O’Connor spoke out as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces intense pressure to exclude Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole from the controversial plans amid widespread outrage.
She met Justice Secretary Alex Norris on Wednesday with Thames Valley Chief Constable Jason Hogg and Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber. Ms O’Connor said: “The meeting was constructive, it was positive, the Lord Chancellor listened to what I had to say. I was quite forthright. I just need to see a plan come to fruition to keep Andrew’s killers where they belong – behind bars.”
Plan expected next week
Ms O’Connor added: “I don’t think we’ll see that plan until next week when Parliament is back. So all in all I remain optimistic. As I’ve said before, there’s a glimmer of optimism for me.”
She continued: “I go back to what the Prime Minister Andy Burnham said, he is optimistic that there will be a plan that will prevent the release of Andrew’s killers early and we will be holding them to account on this.” The Justice Secretary is due to outline the findings of his review of the scheme when Parliament returns from summer recess next week.
Changes to sentencing rules
Bowers and Cole, two of Pc Harper’s three killers, will reportedly be stopped from being freed early. Under the changes, people convicted of a certain type of manslaughter will no longer be eligible to be let out of jail early, according to The Telegraph. Police chiefs have reportedly been told that Mr Norris will introduce secondary legislation to amend the Sentencing Act.
The Prime Minister ordered a review of Labour’s early release scheme, which is aimed at tackling prison overcrowding, shortly after entering No 10. Changes were announced to prevent rapists and paedophiles being let out, but the measures did not cover Pc Harper’s killers. Mr Burnham asked the Justice Secretary to carry out another review following anger over the possible release of Bowers and Cole.
Background and reaction
They were passengers in the car that dragged Pc Harper 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. Before this year’s Sentencing Act, they would have served two-thirds of their term but under the changes they could be released next year, halfway through their 13-year sentences.
The prospect of their release has prompted furious condemnation of the scheme in which some 5,000 inmates are expected to be released early. More than one million people have signed a petition set up to stop Pc Harper’s killers from being let out. Mr Burnham has pledged to do “everything possible” to ensure Bowers and Cole were not freed from prison early. However, the Prime Minister declined to confirm this particular change relating to “unlawful act” manslaughter earlier this month, saying it was “speculation”.
Unlawful act manslaughter is when a person causes the death of another while committing a separate illegal act. Mr Burnham last week said he was “increasingly confident” Pc Harper’s killers will not be freed under the scheme. The Prime Minister has come under pressure from 50 policing leaders from across the UK to use “every lawful option” to block the early release of the pair.
Labour’s early release scheme, which started in September 2024, allows certain prisoners to be released after serving only 40% of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50%. The 2026 Sentencing Act, which became law earlier this year, allows for an expansion of the policy by reducing the threshold from 40% to a third, or from two-thirds to halfway for sentences of more than four years. The expanded scheme was due to take effect from September but Mr Burnham pushed back the date to October.
A Government 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. The Prime Minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of Pc Harper. 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.”
