Thames Valley Police is considering joining potential legal action against the Government to prevent the early release of Pc Andrew Harper's killers, as his widow backed a petition to keep them in prison.
Widow's reaction
Lissie Harper described feeling “punched in the gut” by the decision to proceed with plans that could see Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers freed under a scheme starting in October.
Chief Constable Jason Hogg said he was receiving legal advice on whether the force could join a challenge mooted by the local Police Federation.
Early release scheme
Around 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after ministers exempted rapists and “serious” child sex offenders to tackle prison overcrowding.
Cole and Bowers remain eligible for release halfway through their 13-year sentences after being convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following Pc Harper's death in 2019.
More than 150,000 people have signed a petition in the past 24 hours demanding the Government keep the killers in jail.
Official responses
Ms Harper said: “Government has punched us in the gut… they should be ashamed of themselves. Hopefully we can make the current Government come to their senses and realise we cannot put people like this back on our streets. Justice should mean justice and serving the sentence given.”
Aileen O’Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, said releasing the pair would anger and demoralise officers. Writing in The Sun, she said: “We will throw everything at this through a proper legal challenge from KCs, barristers, you name it. Our colleagues will accept nothing less. It is a final betrayal from the politicians, who are supposed to be on our side.”
Mr Hogg told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is something I certainly would consider. But like I said, I urge the Government now. I do think that the public opinion is overwhelming in this matter, but I think it’s unfair and I do believe confidence in the criminal justice system risks being damaged. It’s right for the Government to have a look at this matter.”
Government stance
Justice minister Jake Richards said the killers would remain subject to the scheme from October. He said: “It would be wrong to pick out individual cases within different offending cohorts. That wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be lawful either. I understand the strength of feeling from police officers generally, but of course within that force in particular after the awful incident with Pc Andrew Harper. If we do not have prison places available then the police, the good work that they do every day on the streets, finding perpetrators, locking them up, it would be impossible.”
Background
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 being caught in a strap attached to a car and dragged down a country road as three teenagers fled the scene.
The driver, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for the scheme. His family have expressed anger at the decision not to exempt Cole and Bowers.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he had wanted to “go further” with exemptions but this was “not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.
Those released will face tougher probation conditions, including electronic monitoring, random drug testing, and possible bans from driving, pubs, and events such as football matches. The changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year.
Concerns over exemptions
Questions have been raised about exemptions for child sex offenders, with The Times reporting the rules will not apply to some historical cases. Victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman is seeking clarification after the Ministry of Justice was unable to say which offences would be excluded.
Mr Richards told Sky News: “We’ve set out and published all the offences which have been carved out of the new scheme that begins in October. Those are all online, several pages. But what we have been very clear is that we cannot carve out every single offence that people might want us to do so.”
