PM asks justice secretary to find way to keep PC Harper's killers in jail

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has instructed the Justice Secretary to devise a means of keeping PC Andrew Harper’s killers from benefitting from an early‑release initiative aimed at alleviating prison overcrowding. Burnham told the BBC that a solution can be found to remove Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers – each sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020 – from the government’s plan. Downing Street had previously warned that excluding “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the early release of prisoners would not be feasible. PC Harper, 28, of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in 2019 after being dragged from a getaway car by three teenagers fleeing a quad‑motorcycle theft in Berkshire. Amendments to the Sentencing Act enacted this year render Cole and Bowers – who were acquitted of murder – eligible for release from custody next January after serving half of their terms. They fall within a category of prisoners convicted of certain serious violent or sexual offences who, until now, were required to serve at least two‑thirds of their sentences before being considered for release. It remains unclear how the government will prevent Cole and Bowers from being treated identically to other inmates with comparable sentences. Should ministers decide, for example, to bar those with manslaughter convictions from the scheme, the move would immediately affect many additional prisoners. A government spokesperson told the BBC: “The prime minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to support a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.” A source said Justice Secretary Alex Norris would set out “in due course” how the administration intends to exclude Cole and Bowers from early release. Burnham has reportedly placed regular calls while on holiday to pursue a resolution, according to BBC sources. Approximately 5,000 individuals are projected to be released under the revised sentencing provisions, a reduction from the earlier estimate of 6,000 after exemptions were announced for those convicted of the gravest offences such as rape, child sexual abuse and grooming. The third man convicted in Harper’s manslaughter case, driver Henry Long, received a 16‑year prison term. Because he was given an extended determinate sentence at the time, he is ineligible for the early‑release programme.