Andy Burnham puts Labour’s early prisoner release scheme on hold after row over PC Andrew Harper’s killers

Andy Burnham has announced he is pausing his early release plan for prisoners after it emerged two men involved in Andrew Harper’s death could be released within months.

The new prime minister promised that “no prisoners will be released under this policy” pending an “urgent review” and said he would do everything he could “to minimize the risk to the public”.

Approximately 5,000 prisoners were to be released from September under the policy introduced under Sir Keir Starmer to alleviate the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

But a row over the policy emerged on Wednesday after it was revealed that two of the men responsible for Pc Harper’s death may be eligible for automatic release under the scheme.

The police officer was 28 when he was fatally injured when he became trapped in a strap tied to the back of a car as three young suspects fled the scene of a burglary in Berkshire in 2019.

According to the plan, the driver of the car, Henry Long, who was 19 years old at the time and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, would not benefit from early release. But it could be Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were 18 at the time and were sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2020 for the manslaughter of Pc Harper.

Announcing the pause on Thursday, the prime minister said: “Keeping the public safe will always be my top priority.

“I am working closely with the new justice minister and have instructed my team to pause the changes, which are scheduled to begin in September.

“No prisoner will be allowed to be released under this policy until we have conducted an urgent review and done everything we can to minimize the risk to the public. Where changes are needed, we will not hesitate to make them.”

Pc Harper’s widow, Lissie Harper, called the plan “deplorable” on Wednesday and accused politicians of “making decisions from behind the table that will have real and lasting consequences” for victim families. T

He said: “It has taken me years to rebuild a life that was torn apart in a matter of minutes. It has taken me years to pick up the pieces left behind by three men whose actions robbed Andrew of his life and our future.”

“Now – once again – politicians are at the table making decisions that will have real and lasting consequences for families of victims like mine.”

He added: “It is sad to me that we have come to a point where even the early release of prisoners is acceptable. We talk about justice, accountability and standing with victims, but decisions like this do the exact opposite.”

PC Harper’s mother also described the news that his two murderers could be released halfway through their sentences as an “insult”.

Meanwhile, Thames Valley Police chief Jason Hogg said it was a “wrong feeling” for murderers to leave prison early. If sentenced today, they face life imprisonment under the Harper Act, which comes into force in 2022 after a campaign by the officer’s family.

Mr Burnham said on Wednesday he wanted to make sure “everything is looked at” before the policy moves forward as planned in September.

“I can’t say I can change the policy completely, but I will look at it in detail before going any further,” he said.

Prison overcrowding has forced successive governments to impose emergency releases, with the Conservative administration’s End of Custody Supervised License scheme launched in 2023 allowing more than 10,000 prisoners to be released 18 to 70 days early.

This was followed by Labour’s SDS40 scheme, which will see 56,323 offenders released after serving 40 per cent of their prison sentence between September 2024 and December 2025.

Then-justice minister Shabana Mahmood said reforms to the Criminal Code came after prisons approached running out of space last year, risking a “complete collapse of law and order” that would leave police unable to make arrests and courts unable to send criminals into custody.

It builds on a package of measures set out in David Gauke’s Independent Sentencing Review, which calls on the government to take “decisive action” to ensure they are never forced to rely on emergency declarations again.

Unlike SDS40, the Criminal Code reforms do not exclude those convicted of sexual offences, domestic abuse and serious violent offences. However, those serving life imprisonment, extended sentence and imprisonment for public protection (IPP) will not be able to benefit from this right.