Andy Burnham has reportedly excluded PC Andrew Harper’s killers from early release. There has been severe public backlash and political pressure after Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole unexpectedly became eligible for release after serving just a third of their sentences.
It is now reported that the pair, who are both aged 23, will be excluded from the early release scheme and will remain in prison. The Prime Minister previously pledged to do “everything possible” to ensure the pair would remain in prison and it is now believed that those convicted of a certain type of manslaughter will no longer be eligible for early release.
Burnham is yet to confirm the change but police chiefs have reportedly been told Justice Secretary Alex Norris, who is reviewing the early release scheme, will introduce secondary legislation to amend the Sentencing Act. He was previously asked by the Prime Minister “to develop a plan to maximise public safety and minimise the early release of prisoners”.
Bowers and Cole were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following the death of PC Harper in 2019. They were passengers in the car that dragged the police officer 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.
Under the scheme’s current rules, Bowers and Cole would be released next year, halfway through their 13-year sentences. Labour’s early release scheme started in September 2024 with the aim of easing overcrowding in jails.
It allows certain prisoners to be released after serving 40% of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50%. The 2026 Sentencing Act, which became law earlier this year, allows for an expansion of the early release scheme by reducing the threshold from 40% of a fixed-term sentence to a third.
Since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham has excluded rapists and child sex offenders from being eligible for the scheme. Unlawful act manslaughter is when a person causes the death of another while committing a separate illegal act.
A Government spokesperson said: “The death of PC Andrew Harper was a horrific crime. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we share the anger from the police community that we are in this position.
“The Prime Minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.
“Thanks to tireless campaigning by Andrew’s family, Harper’s Law means that anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime now gets a mandatory life sentence.
“This Government has gone further by introducing a presumption that anyone convicted of murdering a police, prison or probation officer is handed a whole-life order.”
