Government unable to prevent early release of PC Harper’s killers
Downing Street has admitted it cannot stop the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers despite public outcry over the situation because it is “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter, reports BritPanorama.
The government’s early release scheme—implemented to manage overcrowding in the prison estate—was reviewed by new prime minister Andy Burnham following public backlash after it emerged that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were handed 13 years in custody in 2020 for PC Harper’s manslaughter, could be released early.
Under current plans, the pair remain eligible to be freed halfway through their sentences as part of the early release scheme, which starts in October.
While it was reported this week that Mr. Burnham was prepared to “explore every option” to keep Cole and Bowers in jail, No 10 has since downplayed the prospect of an imminent carve-out to keep the pair behind bars.
Asked about reports of a possible carve-out, the prime minister’s official spokesperson noted that manslaughter of an emergency worker was “not a standalone offence” and that it was “not possible to simply exclude one or two offenders” within the wider offence category.
When pressed on whether ministers were accepting the situation as it stands, the spokesman remarked: “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.”
Further inquiries indicated the prime minister understands the public’s desire for more action, emphasizing that while he wanted to push further, the broader issue of prison capacity presents a significant challenge to public safety.
Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after exemptions were announced as part of the prime minister’s urgent review of the scheme.
Mr. Burnham stated earlier this 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.
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 becoming caught in a strap attached to the back of a vehicle that dragged him 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 early release.
PC Harper’s family has repeatedly criticized the government for the scheme, with the police officer’s widow, Lissie Harper, describing it as “deplorable.”
She accused politicians of “making decisions from behind a desk that will have real and lasting consequences” for the families of victims.
Currently, more than 880,000 people have signed a petition calling for Cole and Bowers to remain in jail.
Prison overcrowding has compelled successive governments to implement emergency releases, with the Conservative administration’s End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme, launched in 2023, releasing over 10,000 inmates between 18 and 70 days early.
This initiative was followed by Labour’s SDS40 scheme, which has resulted in the release of 56,323 offenders after they served 40 percent of their sentences between September 2024 and December 2025.
Reforms in the Sentencing Act arose after prisons came alarmingly close to running out of space last year, risking the “total breakdown of law and order,” which would prevent police from making arrests and courts from sentencing offenders to custody, as noted by then-justice secretary Shabana Mahmood.
