Andy Burnham Urges Minister To Keep Police Killer In Jail

Andy Burnham has ordered one of his top ministers to find a way to keep the killers of PC Andrew Harper in prison.

The prime minister wants justice secretary Alex Norris to “work through further options” to prevent the early release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bower.

They were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2000, but are due to be freed in January under controversial measures to stop prisons running out of spaces.

Burnham has been hit with a furious backlash since it emerged that Norris and Cole would benefit from the early release scheme.

On Monday, Downing Street said it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from the scheme.

However, Norris will now look at ways to keep “a greater number of the the most serious offenders” behind bars.

A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister has asked the justice secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.”

PC Harper was fatally injured when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Burnham announced he was pausing the early release scheme two weeks ago following public anger.

It was then announced that those convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming offences would not be included in the scheme – but that meant that Cole and Bower would still be released.

Last week, the PM said he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing”.

However, more than 880,000 people have signed a petition calling for PN Harper’s killers to remain in jail.

A government source told The Times: “[Burnham] has never accepted that he would be forced to choose between perpetrators of rape, grooming and the killers of police officers.

“The public wasn’t satisfied with that answer and neither was he.

“He has never accepted the line that it is impossible to prevent the release of the most serious offenders and has continued to push the system on a daily basis.

“He is now increasingly confident that a solution can be found to prevent the release of the killers of PC Harper.

“He has asked the justice secretary to present a plan to parliament that keeps a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.”

The early release changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year that cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison.

Those freed will face tougher probation conditions, including electronic monitoring, random drug testing and possible bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches.

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