'Bittersweet victory' as PM changes early release scheme so Pc Harper's killers remain in jail

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced on Sunday that anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including manslaughter, would be exempt from the scheme, which is aimed at easing prison overcrowding.

Speaking to David Domb on LBC News, Matthew Barber, from the police force where Pc Harper served, said the move "comes out of the tragedy of the death of PC Harper but actually it underlines fundamental flaws with the Sentencing Act.

"We shouldn't have ever needed to be here in the first place."

The decision follows months of campaigning by PC Harper's family and former colleagues to block the release of his killers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole.

Read More: Chancellor 'mulls windfall tax on banks and oil companies'

Read More: Pc Andrew Harper killers to be denied early release as Burnham seeks law change over scheme

The Prime Minister ordered a review of the scheme, which is being undertaken by Justice Secretary Alex Norris and is set to be published when Parliament returns from summer recess in September.

It followed widespread condemnation of the scheme when it emerged that Bowers and Cole could be released halfway through their 13-year sentences.

They were passengers in the car that dragged Pc Harper down a country road after he got caught in a strap attached to the vehicle as they fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Mr Barber said, "We've seen a significant prevarication from the government. First, this was going to happen, then it wasn't going to be possible, then it was going to happen, and back on and off several times.

"That causes real concern for families and victims.

"That causes real confusion within the system of those people actually going to have to implement it. So whilst the announcement today is, I think, on the whole to be welcomed, whether it goes far enough is another matter."

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Burnham said “hundreds” of people will remain in prison as part of changes to the scheme designed to ease prison overcrowding. Eligible prisoners are due to start being released from October.

Prisoners convicted of historic child sex offences will also be blocked from the changes

“We’ve come up with a proposal which will allow not just those guilty of manslaughter, the people involved in the killing of Pc Harper, but those who have been convicted for indecent assault, those convicted for death by dangerous driving, all of these offenders now will remain in prison. Hundreds of them," Mr Burnham said.

“I heard obviously what Andrew Harper’s family were saying; I mean who couldn’t? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison."

He said extra space in prisons would be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates who are serving indefinite sentences and considered a significant risk to the public between 2005 and 2012.

But Mr Barber warned: "We haven't seen yet exactly what is being proposed, exactly the mechanisms that they're looking at, and whether there will be any safeguards put in place, for example, about the risk assessment of domestic abuse perpetrators."

Mr Burnham said: “I know how strongly people feel about this issue. I understand the concern and anger because I share it.

“That’s why I took action during my first weeks as Prime Minister to block some of the very worst in society being released before they should.

“We moved quickly to block vile criminals who commit rape, sexually abuse children and groom vulnerable young people.”

“But I always said I wanted to do more...This means that the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened," he said.

But Mr Barber said that while the decision "will be some relief, it's relief for a situation they never thought they would find themselves in, because, before a couple of months ago, they'd never imagined that the Sentencing Act was going to allow his killers to be released early.

The move "doesn't actually make anything better (for victims' families)," he added.

"This just puts people back to a position and removes some of the damage that was being done by the Sentencing Act.

The change to exclude manslaughter was supported by the likes of Emma Webber, whose son Barnaby was stabbed to death in Nottingham in 2023 and whose killer, Valdo Calocane, was convicted of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

Pc Harper's other killer, Henry Long, has a longer sentence which would prevent him from being released early under the scheme.

He would need to be seen by the Parole Board before any release.

His widow, Lissie Harper, had called it "deplorable" that her husband's killers could be freed early.

Debbie Adlam, PC Andrew Harper's mother, said she was grateful for the change, adding that recent weeks have "taken a toll."

She told Sky News, "I think some might be out there thinking we're celebrating.

"It doesn't feel like something to celebrate.

"It's taken us back to where we began a few weeks back, or months back.

"It's really difficult to know how to feel; it's not something that we can go out and be joyful about."

Chief constable of Thames Valley Police, Jason Hogg, said in a statement that "the proposed arrangements will be welcomed by many across policing and our communities.

"Over recent weeks we have consistently expressed our concerns about the potential impact these release arrangements could have had on Andrew Harper's family, friends and colleagues, the wider policing service and the communities he served.

"I am grateful that those concerns were listened to and carefully considered."

On Wednesday, LBC reported it understood that those convicted of 'unlawful act' manslaughter -- including Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole -- would be excluded from the early release scheme, despite the Prime Minister previously dismissing the move as speculation.

Sources said that ministers were specifically targeting the legal definitions of 'unlawful act' manslaughter to ensure the pair would not see early freedom.

On Sunday, Mr Burnham confirmed that a cross-party oversight group will look at how to release some prisoners serving indefinite sentences, warning it would require a “very careful” approach as some people still pose a risk.

The Prime Minister said he had made the “judgment” that the public would prefer offenders who have served their time being freed before those who have not, and that he had “long-standing concerns” about the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences which have caused “a sense of unfairness” in some cases.

But he promised to apply a “common sense” approach, and said legislation would be brought forward to end these sentences by the end of the Parliament.

He said: “Many of the people in this position have more than served their time. But on the scheme that I inherited, they would have remained in prison, while others who committed serious offences would have been let out early.

“And we will set up a cross-party oversight group to look at how this is done, because there are still individuals who will pose a risk to communities. It does need to be done in a very careful way with regard to public safety, national security, and all of those issues.”