Burnham ‘pauses’ Labour’s early release of prisoners for ‘urgent review’ after outrage at freeing of PC Harper’s killers

Andy Burnham today announced that Labour’s prison early release scheme has been ‘paused’ amid anger over the release from prison of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.

The Prime Minister said he and new Justice Minister Alex Norris would carry out an ‘urgent review’ of the policy ahead of its planned launch in September.

The move threatens to plunge the prison system into new chaos, while Mr Burnham insists no prisoners will be released under the scheme until the review is completed.

This will leave authorities scrambling to prepare prison release plans for thousands of offenders who will be eligible for early release after serving as little as one-third of their sentences.

The Prime Minister indicated the plan could yet face a major overhaul by Mr Norris, while Mr Burnham said he would ‘not hesitate’ to make changes.

“Ensuring the public’s safety will always be my top priority,” he said in a statement. ‘I am working closely with the new Minister of Justice and have instructed my team to pause the changes, which are scheduled to begin in September.

‘No prisoners will be allowed to be released under this policy until we have carried out an urgent investigation and done everything we can to minimize the risk to the public. ‘We will not hesitate to make changes when they are needed.’

Mr Burnham had previously promised ‘Look’ at the plan as he expresses anger at the prospect of two of PC Harper’s killers being released early.

PC Harper was 28 when he was fatally injured while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.

Under the new Criminal Code, which will come into force in September, approximately 6,000 criminals are expected to be released under the early release scheme.

The government has so far not decided whether murderers, rapists and pedophiles will be exempt from this plan.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were each sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter following the trial of PC Harper’s death at the Old Bailey in 2020, may be eligible for early release.

Lissie Harper, PC Harper’s widow, said it was ‘deplorable’ that Cole and Bowers were released from prison halfway through their sentences.

PC Harper was 28 when he was fatally injured while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019.

Three young people died after being dragged along a country road after being caught by a belt attached to the back of a car while fleeing the scene of a suspected burglary.

Cole and Bowers, who were passengers in the car, were 17 at the time. Henry Long, the driver of the vehicle that caused PC Harper’s death, was sentenced to 16 years in prison and will not benefit from the early release programme.

Mrs Harper on Wednesday pressed Mr Burnham to rethink the policy, saying it was a ‘deplorable situation’ that two of her late husband’s killers were being considered for early release.

Ms Harper, who was married just 28 days before PC Harper’s death, said politicians were ‘making decisions from behind the table that will have real and lasting consequences’ for the families of victims.

PC Harper’s mother Debbie Adlam said it felt like an ‘insult’ that two of her son’s killers were eligible for early release from prison.

Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers may be eligible for release from prison halfway through their sentences, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed

PC Harper and Lissie Harper had married just four weeks before the Thames Valley Police officer was killed in 2019.

Some staff working in the prison system have questioned Mr Burnham’s move to pause his early release plan.

A prison officer told the BBC: ‘We are overcrowded, which is not good news.

‘If we don’t let people out in September, we may reach a critical point with full capacity in November.

‘This is a crazy decision.’

But someone else said: ‘there needs to be a proper assessment of the risk some of these prisoners may pose if they are released in the autumn’.

‘Public safety must come first,’ they added.

‘The real problem is the lack of staff who have to maintain control of our overcrowded prisons. ‘We don’t have enough prison officers.’

Mr Burnham has already said he would review the early release policy.

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

The Prime Minister was also forced to scold Cabinet ministers for joking about Labor letting out prisoners.

He described it as “unacceptable” that Defense Secretary Wes Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood joked about Mr Norris wanting to “let them all out”.

It comes after Mr Streeting said he “apologises for any offense inadvertently caused” by his comments to Mr Norris.

Ms Mahmood also said the Justice Minister’s ‘nagging’, which was caught on camera during the ‘hot mic’ moment, was not a ‘malicious intention’.

In overheard comments, Mr Streeting suggested to Ms Mahmood that Mr Norris was ‘the enemy now’ and ‘wanted to take them all out’, while the Home Secretary was seen laughing at Mr Streeting’s remarks.

PC Harper responded to the ATV call just hours after he started his honeymoon with his wife Lissie.

After her husband’s death, she campaigned for legal changes to make penalties tougher for the manslaughter of on-duty emergency workers.

Harper’s Law was among the new measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The move extends mandatory life sentences to anyone who unintentionally kills an on-duty emergency worker, including police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics.

It is non-retroactive, meaning PC Harper’s murderers cannot have their sentences extended.

The government was urged to release non-violent women from prisons instead of dangerous criminals.

On Thursday, in the House of Lords, which was still sitting even though MPs had started their six-week summer break from the Commons, leading Labor member Lord Katz asked him: ‘What does (the Government) think they are doing?’ When asked, he insisted there needed to be a ‘sophisticated response’ to prison overcrowding.

Conservative former attorney-general Lord Garnier said: ‘There are 3,650 women in prisons in England and Wales and around 2,500 of these people, 70 per cent of the female prison population, are in custody for non-violent offences.

‘If the Government think it is better to release violent criminals and child sex offenders rather than the non-violent female community, and fail to take the opportunity to free up prison places by turning women’s prisons back into men’s prisons, what do they think they are doing?’

In his response, Lord Katz said: ‘This is a complex progress plan that will enable us to create the capacity we need in our prison system.’

‘There are not many easy options, but there are also more sophisticated answers to the very simple problem he poses,’ he added.

Leading barrister and independent judge Lord Pannick said: ‘Can the Minister explain why prison numbers cannot be reduced sufficiently by early release of those who are not subject to the most severe sentences? For example, those who have served for 10 years or less.’

Lord Katz did not answer this question directly.

He said the Sentencing Code aimed to ‘break the cycle’ of short sentences, adding: ‘We need to ensure that if people go to prison they stay there long enough and that it does a proper job of rehabilitation.’

Shadow Home Office minister Lord Davies of Gower pressed ministers on whether they should ‘consider those involved in the killing of police officers to be among the most serious and heinous criminals’.

Lord Katz replied: ‘Of course this Government, like the previous Government, will regard the killing of police officers, of anyone charged with protecting us, of any member of the emergency services, of persons put in danger when we could have escaped, as the most serious and heinous crime.’