Downing Street says not possible to exempt ‘one or two offenders’ from early release over PC Andrew Harper outcry
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences under Government plans for early releases designed to tackle overcrowding in jails
(Image: Thames Valley Police/PA Wire)
Downing Street has played down the prospect of PC Andrew Harper’s killers being exempted from a prison early release scheme – despite an outcry.
It comes after Andy Burnham last week tightened rules so that rape and serious child sexual offences would be excluded from early release. The controversial programme to let offenders free early was designed to avoid the collapse of the crisis-hit prison system.
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 the sentencing changes from autumn.
The government has apologised to PC Harper’s family but more than 880,000 people have signed a petition calling for them to remain in jail.
On Monday, Mr Burnham’s official spokesman said it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the scheme. The comment followed reports that the new Prime Minister is prepared to “explore every option” to block their early release from prison.
Asked whether this was correct on Monday, Mr Burnham’s spokesman said manslaughter of an emergency worker was “not a standalone offence”. They said it was “not possible to simply exclude one or two offenders” within the wider category of manslaughter.
The late PC Andrew Harper and his widow, Lissie Harper(Image: Thames Valley Police/PA Wire)
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 PM 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.”
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 will not be eligible for release.
Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from the 6,000 originally planned before the exemptions were announced.
