Devastated wife to the murdered PC, Lissie Harper said she will ‘never give up’ (Image: Getty)
The Government has issued an apology to the family of Pc Andrew Harper as two of his killers remain eligible for early release.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris acknowledged that the decision had “created harm” but said the alternative was seeing prisons cease to function.
Around 5,000 prisoners are expected to be freed early under sentencing reforms, reduced from 6,000 after ministers excluded rapists and child sex offenders from the scheme designed to address severe overcrowding in jails.
However, two of Pc Harper’s killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, remain eligible for early release following their 2020 manslaughter convictions, despite fierce opposition from the officer’s family that prompted a review of the early release plans.
The 28-year-old officer suffered fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.
He lost his life after becoming entangled in a strap fastened to the rear of a car and being dragged along a country lane as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, was handed a 16-year sentence and would not have qualified for the Government’s scheme, but Cole and Bowers were sentenced to 13 years and are now eligible for release at the halfway point of their sentences.
Pc Harper’s wife Lissie Harper has voiced her fury at the prospect of their early release, branding it “an affront to justice” and “an utter betrayal”. His mother, Debbie Adlam, described the family as “bitterly disappointed” by the decision, telling the BBC: “Andrew deserves better than this, and so do we.”
Mr Norris said he understood the family’s “anger” and extended an apology, but maintained that the early release scheme was essential to prevent the prison system from collapsing.
He told Sky News: “Were we not to make these changes, then we would run out of prison places in this October or November.
“I know that’s difficult. I know that’s created harm, and it’s not Lissie Harper’s fault, and I’m sorry that she’s been put into this situation as a result, I genuinely am.
“But this is a decision we’ve had to take to make sure we have a functioning prison system.”
Ministers confirmed on Monday that rapists and serious child sex offenders would be excluded from the early release scheme, following a review of the policy commissioned by Andy Burnham shortly after he assumed office as Prime Minister.
Mr Burnham stated he had wished to “go further” with the exemptions, but this was “not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.
The releases, originally scheduled for September, have been delayed until October to give the probation service additional time to prepare.
Those freed will be subject to stricter probation conditions, encompassing electronic monitoring, random drug testing and potential bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches. The changes formed part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year, which reduced the minimum time many offenders must serve behind bars.
Pc Harper’s wife Lissie Harper has voiced her fury at the prospect of their early release (Image: Getty)
Labour argued the measures were partly necessary because the Conservatives had left the prison system “at breaking point” due to severe overcrowding.
Mr Norris stated the policy would mean the Government would not need to repeat the early release schemes that had previously been required to prevent prisons from reaching full capacity.
The Government has also pledged to construct 14,000 new prison places by 2031, with 3,000 already delivered over the past two years.
The Conservatives, however, have insisted that victims “deserve better”.
Kemi Badenoch said her party would build additional prison places, rent cells abroad and deport foreign offenders to tackle the overcrowding crisis.
She told broadcasters: “We do need to solve the problem of prison overcrowding. We said we were going to build prisons in the Conservative manifesto, Covid derailed that programme.
“We still need to build prisons. We need to remove foreign criminals, and we should do what Conservatives had planned to do two years ago, which Labour stopped, which is rent prison spaces from other countries. Sweden does it. The UK can do it too.”
When pressed on the cost, she replied: “You cannot put a price on keeping the citizens of this country feeling safe and secure.”
The Liberal Democrats called on the Prime Minister to “step up” and take action to prevent the early release of Pc Harper’s killers.
“It is an insult to the family and loved ones of Andrew Harper that his killers are still eligible for early release after committing such a heinous crime,” the party’s justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller said.
“Ministers repeatedly assured Parliament that the most serious offenders would be exempt from these measures and it is clear that is simply not the case.”
The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) also hit out at the last-minute policy change, warning it had placed “huge pressure” on prison staff, making mistakes “more likely”.
PGA president Tom Wheatley said: “Government needs to decide on a direction and stick to it, changing course at a late stage causes scarce resources to be used unnecessarily and puts prison and probation staff under extreme pressure.”