Policing leaders from across the UK have piled pressure on Andy Burnham to use “every lawful option” to prevent the early release of Pc Andrew Harper’s killers. A letter from 50 police chiefs and other law enforcement leaders also called on the Prime Minister to “establish an additional public protection safeguard” for the most serious offenders, when future early release schemes are floated.
The leaders, who included Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, Greater Manchester Chief Constable Stephen Watson and National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar, also said families and victims “must be properly considered whenever significant changes are made to sentencing or release arrangements”.
Three asks from policing leaders
The policing leaders made the three asks of Mr Burnham after he ordered Justice Secretary Alex Norris to draw up plans to increase the number of cells available to keep more serious offenders behind bars. The 50 police leaders said they welcomed this intervention but raised questions about the early crisis gripping Mr Burnham’s premiership.
Their letter said: “When the state asks people to run towards danger on behalf of the public, they should be able to trust that the justice system will stand behind them when the worst happens. Pc Andrew Harper’s case also raises a wider question. When someone is sentenced for an exceptionally serious offence, how much confidence can victims, bereaved families and the public place in that sentence if subsequent changes to release arrangements result in an offender being released significantly earlier than originally anticipated?”
Concerns over public safety and trust
The question extends “far beyond policing”, they said, adding that “families across the country are now facing the distress of learning that offenders may be released earlier than they understood when sentence was passed”. The letter, which was signed by police chiefs of forces across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, added: “Officers and staff understand that the law must be applied as it stands. But they will question what message this sends about the value placed on their service and sacrifice when they put themselves in harm’s way to protect others. Police officers and staff see first-hand the impact serious crime has on victims and their families. They support people through some of the most difficult moments of their lives and ask them to place their trust in the justice system. That trust is vital and should not be weakened. We are also collectively concerned that an approach to early release which does not sufficiently distinguish the most serious offending risks undermining public safety, victim confidence and wider confidence in the criminal justice system.”
PM's stance and review of early release
Mr Burnham had earlier said he is “increasingly confident” Pc Harper’s killers will not be released early from their sentences because ways can be found to free up prison space for serious offenders. The Prime Minister said “I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early” as he claimed to have been “pressing every single day to go further” on limiting the number of inmates who will be set free as part of the measures to reduce overcrowding.
Justice Secretary Mr Norris had been asked to fast-track proposals to create “more headroom” in the prison system, including through deporting more foreign offenders, finding a solution for people on indeterminate sentences and using cells previously holding female inmates to accommodate male offenders. The Prime Minister ordered a review of the early release scheme under the Sentencing Act shortly after taking office, but while changes were announced to prevent rapists and paedophiles being released early the measures did not cover Pc Harper’s killers.
Background of the case
The officer was fatally injured when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019. Two out of three of Pc Harper’s killers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, are set to be released next year halfway through their 13-year sentences, after being convicted of manslaughter in 2020. Before this year’s Sentencing Act, they would have served two-thirds of their term. Mr Burnham previously said he had “pushed the very limits” in the changes he had made to the early release scheme, but has now said he can go further.
