UK PM says cop killers will not get early release

United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he is confident he can revise his government's early-release policy to keep the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of Police Constable Andrew Harper.

In a statement on Tuesday, Burnham said planned increases in prison capacity would enable tighter early-release rules without worsening overcrowding.

Changes made this year to the UK's Sentencing Act, meant certain inmates became eligible for automatic release at the halfway point of their sentences, rather than after serving two-thirds.

The early-release policy has been brought into focus by the case of Harper, who died in 2019 after being dragged behind a car as offenders fled a quad bike theft in the county of Berkshire, England.

His killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, could be released halfway through 13-year terms, a prospect that has drawn public condemnation. A petition to stop them being released from prison early had gathered more than 900,000 signatures by Tuesday.

Cole and Bowers were due for a January 2027 release under the plan, which exempts rape and serious child-sex offenses but not manslaughter, prompting criticism from the police and Harper's family.

The government now looks set to make a U-turn on the policy, with Burnham suggesting Harper's killers are unlikely to be released in January as planned.

The prime minister said on Tuesday he had instructed Justice Secretary Alex Norris to fast-track measures to expand prison capacity, reducing the need for early releases.

In a lengthy statement, the prime minister wrote: "I am increasingly confident that a more focused approach along these lines will allow us to reduce the number of people released early and, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC Harper, prevent their early release altogether.

"In advance of the justice secretary's proposals being presented to Parliament, we will seek to engage other political parties in discussions with the aim of gaining the widest possible public and political consensus on the approach being taken."

Burnham stated that he understood "the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper — and I share it".

"I fully appreciate the anguish of Andrew's family and, more broadly, of all those victims and their families who may see those who caused them such harm not serve their full sentence.

"It is incumbent on me as prime minister to do everything within my power to minimize that possibility. And I am determined to do so."

Conservative Party lawmaker and shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticized the government, writing in a post on X: "Andy Burnham and Labour are re-traumatizing victims and their families with their constant U-turns."

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com