Andy Burnham is under mounting pressure to stop the early prison release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers after more than 645,000 people signed a petition calling for him to do so.
Andy Burnham is under mounting pressure to stop the early prison release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers after some 650,000 people signed a petition calling on him to do so.
The PM has tightened the rules so that rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming would be excluded from the early jail release scheme.
But manslaughter charges are not included on the exemptions list, meaning two of PC Harper’s killers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers will be eligible for early release as part of sentencing changes to come in from the autumn. Labour said it is forced to free some prisoners early to deal with the major prisons overcrowding crisis it inherited from the Tories.
Former Det Sup Stuart Blaik, who led the Thames Valley Police investigation into the 28-year-old police constable’s case, on Friday said he was “appalled” his killers would be freed early. “Neither of them showed any remorse during their time in police custody or during their subsequent trial, he told the BBC. “I hope the Government takes account of the strength of public feeling on this issue, which has been both clear and widespread.”
Justice Secretary Alex Norris this week apologised to PC Harper’s family but insisted the measures were necessary to ensure jails don’t run out of space this autumn. A change.org petition calling for PC Harper’s early release to be blocked has been signed by just over 650,000 people, at the time of writing. The figure has surged by thousands of people already this morning and is continuing to increase.
The petition, launched by Aileen O’Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, says: “This decision pours salt into wounds that have never healed. It is an insult to Andrew’s family, his friends, his colleagues and the entire policing family.”
It adds: “Let me be clear, on behalf of Thames Valley Police Officers, I challenge the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary to stand before PC Andrew Harper’s widow, Lissie, his parents, his brother, his loved ones, or indeed any police officer in this country, and explain why those responsible for killing a police officer should still be eligible for early release.”
Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg said he was receiving legal advice on whether the force could join a legal challenge mooted by Ms O’Connor to prevent Cole and Bowers being freed.
PC Harper’s mum Debbie Adlam said her family are “bitterly disappointed” by the decision to release Cole and Bowers early, while his widow Lissie Harper said the Government “has punched us in the gut… they should be ashamed of themselves”.
Home office minister Anna Turley on Friday said PC Harper’s case was “horrendous” but did not say the rules would be changed after being challenged on why exemptions could not include the killing of emergency workers.
She told BBC Radio 4: “It is a horrendous case, and that’s why you know I’m pleased that the individuals, the perpetrators, saw justice.” Told that many people think their early release is not justice, she continued: “But the reality is, as I said, you know, we have a prison system that we have to manage. It is an absolute breaking point because prison places have not been built.
“We’re having the fastest prison place building programme in generations. We’re making sure that when offences like this are committed in the future, that we ensure the prison system will be able to house them. The reality is, if we don’t deal with the system as it is now in its crisis, then police who are making these arrests, the courts who are sentencing people, will not have places to put people in who are going into the system now, and that will mean the whole system will break down.
“We have to ensure that the prison system is working, is at capacity, and that means some very, very difficult decisions but I’m afraid this is the situation that we’re in, and we have to be realistic.”
PC Harper sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019. The 28-year-old police officer 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.oihrggiorirgThe driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not have been eligible for the Government’s scheme.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were passengers in the car and sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2020, would become eligible for release after serving half of their sentences.
The Prime Minister has said he wanted to “go further” with the exemptions after ordering a review of the scheme, but this was “not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.
Justice Secretary Mr Norris earlier this week Mr Norris said he was “sorry” that Ms Harper had been “put into this position” and said he and the PM were “angry” they were in this situation.
“I know that she’s angry,” he said on Tuesday morning. “You know, frankly, the Prime Minister’s expressed his anger. I would express how angry I am too at being in a situation where we’re having to make significant changes that do have real impacts on people’s lives, so that we are able to have a functioning prison system.”
Mr Burnham is also said to be “urgently” identifying any grooming gang perpetrators who might still be freed early due to a loophole in the rules. Grooming gang offences are excluded from early release but as some perpetrators were sent to jail before anti-grooming laws were introduced in 2003, they were instead charged with indecent assault and may still be eligible, reports suggest.