The mother of one of the teenagers convicted over the death of PC Andrew Harper has criticised the decision to keep her son in prison, insisting he is “not a danger to anyone”.

Donna-Marie Bowers, 44, described the killing of the newlywed police officer as a “tragic accident” and blamed public pressure for preventing her son, Albert Bowers, from being released early.

Bowers, now 24, was part of a group of teenagers involved in the theft of a quad bike in Berkshire in 2019 when PC Harper tried to intervene.

The officer, 28, became caught behind the getaway vehicle and was dragged for about a mile, suffering catastrophic injuries that killed him.

Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 17 at the time, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. They were each sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Both had been due to qualify for release after serving half of their sentences, but that plan was blocked following a major public campaign led by PC Harper’s family and widespread opposition to their early release.

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Albert Bowers was seen sticking out his tongue and ‘flipping Vs’ at onlookers during an early court appearance

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PC Andrew Harper and his wife Lissie had been together since they were teenagers and got married just four weeks before his death

Mother attacks campaign to keep son in prison

In a series of Facebook posts, Bowers’ mother criticised the petition and campaign against her son’s release.

She claimed the two teenagers “didn’t mean to do what they done” and argued that they were “only kids at the time”.

In another post, she said they were “not a danger to enyone [sic] now”.

More than one million people signed a petition opposing the release of Bowers and Cole, according to the report.

Mrs Bowers also criticised the Government, arguing that political leaders should not change decisions because of public pressure.

She shared another post accusing campaigners of applying “double standards” when it comes to police officers convicted of serious offences.

The comments come after PC Harper’s family said the fight to prevent his killers from being released had left them “re-traumatised”.

Bowers has remained in prison

Bowers is serving his sentence at HMP Frankland.

He has previously been criticised over his apparent lack of remorse, with a prison source telling the Daily Mail that he had shown no regret over PC Harper’s death.

Bowers was also pictured grinning and making gestures towards onlookers during an earlier court appearance.

His mother disputed other allegations concerning her son, including claims relating to a sexual assault conviction.

She said the conviction was based on “lies” and argued that the offence had been misrepresented. She also claimed the judge had not been interested in his account because Bowers is a traveller.

Those claims are disputed and form part of Mrs Bowers’ defence of her son.

PC Harper’s family fought to keep killers behind bars

PC Harper was newly married when he was killed, having married his wife Lissie just four weeks before his death.

The couple had been together since they were teenagers.

The campaign to prevent Bowers and Cole from being released early gained significant public support following the decision to exclude people convicted of unlawful killing from the early-release scheme.

Bowers and Cole are now expected to remain in prison until around March 2029, when they will have completed two-thirds of their 13-year sentences.

The case has continued to generate strong emotions, with PC Harper’s family maintaining their campaign while Bowers’ mother insists her son no longer poses a danger.

The competing positions have kept the circumstances of PC Harper’s death and the question of when his killers should be released firmly in the public spotlight.