Dozens of police chiefs have called on Andy Burnham to use “every lawful option” to prevent the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.
An open letter signed by 50 policing and law enforcement leaders from across the UK on Tuesday urged the prime minister to ensure Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers served their full sentences.
The government is under pressure over changes to the law whereby some offenders could be eligible for early release to ease the strain on prison capacity.
Mr Burnham has been urged to exclude the killers of PC Harper from the scheme. Cole and Bowers were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020 but could be released by January.
“Those who serve and protect the public should know that the justice system recognises the risks they take on society's behalf,” read the letter circulated by the National Police Chiefs' Council.
“Victims and bereaved families should be confident that sentences imposed for the most serious offences retain meaning and that public protection remains a central consideration when release decisions are made.”
The signatories called on Mr Burnham to review public safety when considering the early release of serious offenders, and to consider the impact on victims and bereaved families when changing the law.
“We make this request in memory of PC Andrew Harper, in support of his family, friends, colleagues and the communities he served and on behalf of all victims of serious offending,” the letter acknowledged.
The letter did welcome the prime minister’s earlier intervention and directions to the Justice Secretary, after Mr Burnham told Alex Norris to find a way to exclude PC Harper’s killers from the scheme.
That came after Downing Street on Monday said that the prime minister had “pushed hard” to resolve the matter, but warned it was not possible to exempt “one or two” offenders from early release, as manslaughter of an emergency worker is not a stand alone offence.
Blocking the early release of Cole and Bowers due their manslaughter convictions would affect anybody with a manslaughter conviction.
Prison Service officials told No10 that a blanket exemption for manslaughter would mean that even more early releases would be needed within 18 months, according to the Guardian.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in 2019 after being dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire.
PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, told BBC Breakfast that she had heard conflicting reports over the possible release of her son's killers.
“It feels like a hash, like a rush job,” she said, adding: “I'm not asking for a special case for my son, this is for emergency service workers.”
Last month, Mr Burnham ordered an urgent review of the law and has since excluded offenders convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming offences from eligibility for early release.
Justice secretary Alex Norris said earlier on Tuesday that the government is considering “every serious option” to keep serious criminals in prison.
In a post on social media, Mr Norris referenced deporting foreign criminals more quickly, looking at women’s prisons, and reviewing indeterminate sentences.
Thames Valley Police leaders on Monday suggested that an exemption could be made to the Sentencing Act whereby individuals serving a sentence for manslaughter where the victim was an emergency service worker who died while discharging their duties would be excluded from the early release scheme.
Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said: “It is entirely possible for the Government to frame legislation that would exempt the killers of emergency service workers from the provisions of the Sentencing Act.
“We are all prepared to work with the Government to improve the legislation and ensure PC Andrew Harper’s killers are not released early from prison next year.”
Andy Burnham has also said he could free some prisoners trapped on discredited Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) jail terms among possible measures to ease prison overcrowding and stop PC Harper’s killers from being freed early.
