Downing Street has said it is “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from early release, despite pressure to prevent the killers of Pc Andrew Harper from being freed next year.
Prime Minister 'far from accepting' situation
No 10 insisted Prime Minister Andy Burnham is “far from accepting the situation” but played down the prospect of a carve-out to keep Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers behind bars. Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after exemptions were announced as part of an urgent review of the scheme designed to tackle jail overcrowding.
Under current plans, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed in January, halfway through their 13-year sentences after they were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following Pc Harper’s death in 2019. More than 880,000 people have signed a petition calling for them to remain in jail, with a Government source telling The Daily Telegraph on Friday the Prime Minister is prepared to “explore every option” to block their early release.
Legal limitations cited
Asked whether this was correct on Monday, Mr Burnham’s official spokesman said manslaughter of an emergency worker was “not a standalone offence” and it was “not possible to simply exclude one or two offenders” within the wider category of manslaughter. Asked whether ministers were accepting the situation as it stands, the spokesman said: “I think you’ve seen from the Prime Minister’s words that he’s far from accepting the situation and as he wrote last week he wants to go even further.”
“He’s pushed hard on what more we could do and his focus now is on fixing the prison system long-term to avoid a repeat of this prison crisis so that it never happens again.” Pressed on whether the Prime Minister was admitting there was nothing more he could do, the official said: “He understands the public wants him to go further, and he wanted to go further, but on the wider issue that prisons would have run out of space, police would stop making arrests, it would be impossible to lock up convicted offenders and that would put public safety at untold risk.”
Family and police reaction
Mr Burnham said last 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. But Pc Harper’s family have expressed anger and disappointment at the decision not to exempt Cole and Bowers, while the boss of his former force said he was considering joining a potential legal challenge over the Government plans.
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.
Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg said last week he was receiving legal advice on whether the force could join a legal challenge mooted by local Police Federation chief Aileen O’Connor to prevent Cole and Bowers being freed. The early release changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year that cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison. Those freed will face tougher probation conditions, including electronic monitoring, random drug testing and possible bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches.
Ms O’Connor said she was “incensed” by No 10’s insistence that an exemption was not possible, and “more needs to be done”. “We are seeking all legal avenues,” she told Times Radio. “Whatever happens, we will throw everything we can at this to make sure that those responsible for killing Andrew Harper in the execution of his duty remain firmly behind bars.”
