Andy Burnham has bowed to huge public pressure to keep the killers of PC Andrew Harper behind bars.
The Prime Minister said today he is ‘increasingly confident’ that further changes can be made to Labour‘s early release scheme to keep Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers in prison.
Under existing plans, the pair are set to be freed in January – just halfway through their 13-year sentences – as part of Government efforts to tackle overcrowding in jails.
Downing Street on Monday said it was ‘not possible’ to exempt ‘one or two offenders’ convicted of manslaughter from the scheme – despite more than 800,000 people having signed a petition calling for PC Harper’s killers to remain in jail.
But less than 24 hours later Mr Burnham said he was ‘determined’ to find a way of keeping Cole and Bowers in prison.
The PM, who spent last week on holiday, posted on Facebook: ‘I understand the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper – and I share it.
‘I fully appreciate the anguish of Andrew’s family and, more broadly, of all those victims and their families who may see those who caused them such harm not serve their full sentence.
‘It is incumbent on me as PM to do everything within my power to minimise that possibility. And I am determined to do so.’
In a post on Facebook, Andy Burnham said he was ‘determined’ to find a way of keeping Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers in prison
PC Andrew Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer, was killed in August 2019 when responding to a quad bike theft in Berkshire
Cole, left, and Bowers were each handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter after a trial into PC Harper’s death at the Old Bailey in 2020
Mr Burnham said he had instructed Justice Secretary Alex Norris to ‘fast-track the development of a plan for presentation to Parliament early next month to create more headroom within the prison system’.
He added this would include increasing the rate of removal of foreign criminals from British jails; finding an early resolution to the ‘long-running injustice’ of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences; and making greater use of female prisons for male offenders.
‘I am increasingly confident that a more focused approach along these lines will allow us to reduce the number of people released early and, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC Harper, prevent their early release altogether,’ Mr Burnham continued.
‘In advance of the Justice Secretary’s proposals being presented to Parliament, we will seek to engage other political parties in discussions with the aim of gaining the widest possible public and political consensus on the approach being taken.
‘Murderers have always been exempt and our actions have already ensured that rapists, serious child sex offenders and those convicted of grooming offences will never be released early.
‘And today I have shown a determination to go further. However, I recognise that, even with all these changes, there will be concerns from many victims about who will still be released early for other offences.
‘I am doing all I can, but it is simply not possible to prevent all offenders from being released early without the prison system collapsing.’
Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, had earlier said the Government would announce an exemption to the early release scheme for the killers of police officers when Parliament returns from its summer break next month.
She told LBC: ‘The PM is really clear, the Justice Secretary will come to Parliament in September to lay out our plans on how we keep the most serious criminals in jail.’
Asked to clarify if this included the killers of police officers, Ms Rayner replied: ‘Yes. The PM is really clear that these people that have created the most abhorrent crimes should not be released early and that he wants to set out in September with the Justice Secretary how we can resolve this issue.’
Sally Jameson, a junior minister in Ms Rayner’s department, told Times Radio that a way of keeping PC Harper’s killers behind bars had been ‘identified’.
The PM, seen leaving Downing Street this morning, said he had instructed Justice Secretary Alex Norris to ‘fast-track’ plans to ‘create more headroom within the prison system’
PC Harper 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.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not have been eligible for the Government’s early release scheme, but Cole and Bowers’ shorter terms meant they were eligible to be freed.
Mr Burnham announced a review of the early release plans shortly after taking office in the wake of a public outcry about the potential release of Bowers and Cole.
The review resulted in changes last week to prevent rapists and paedophiles being released early but there was nothing to change the status of PC Harper’s killers.
At the time, Mr Burnham said he had gone as far as he could – but after returning from his summer holiday he has now said further action can be taken.
Speaking during a visit in Derbyshire on Tuesday, he said: ‘I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early, and that’s the spirit that I’ve brought to the first three weeks that I’ve served as Prime Minister, and I’ve always worked like that.
‘I’ve never taken no for an answer, not in the past dealing with Hillsborough and other issues, and not now when I’m facing the situation that I’m looking at now. It’s always been my style, I won’t give up, and I believe there is more I can do.
‘It’s my job to speak up for the public on this issue. I take that duty very seriously indeed, and I’m confident that there’s more that can be done, and will be done to address public concern.’
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Mr Burnham and Labour of ‘re-traumatising victims and their families with their constant U-turns’.
‘We warned that Labour’s early release scheme would see rapists let out early – but they legislated anyway,’ he added.
‘Andy Burnham’s review then decided Andrew Harper’s killers should still be released early. Just yesterday No 10 briefed (falsely) that it was *impossible* to keep them in.
‘Now, 24 hours later, he’s changed his mind again. It’s clear that good vibes and a snazzy t-shirt do not make for competent government.
‘Mr Burnham is letting down victims and their families on a daily basis.’
PC Harper’s mother said she had received a call from Downing Street on Monday night and has ‘got a little bit of hope that we didn’t have before’ that the killers will not be released early.
Discussing the call she had with a member of the Prime Minister’s staff, Debbie Adlam told BBC Breakfast: ‘She said that he wanted to convey that he wants to do everything that he can and has more hope now of finding a resolution to this to try and keep them in prison.
‘I think the fact that it’s actually come from Downing Street – I’ve got to try and have some faith in it but, at the same time, I have to protect my own feelings.’
But she added: ‘It feels like a hash. It feels like a rush job. It feels like nobody’s put enough effort into actually look for reasons or ways.
‘We are having to push on every level, and it just doesn’t feel like, as a British citizen, I shouldn’t be doing this. They weren’t given extreme sentences, and I’m only asking for them to do what they were given.’
Thames Valley Police Federation chairman Aileen O’Connor told BBC’s Today programme: ‘I genuinely believe that the powers that be, Andy Burnham – and the difficult decisions that they have to make – he will make the right choices here, and he will come on board with us, and he’ll get the right side of the line.’
