Police Officers Killers To Remain In Prison After Burnham Release U Turn

The killers of PC Andrew Harper will not be released early from prison after a major U-turn by Andy Burnham.

The prime minister announced on Sunday morning that anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including manslaughter, will not be eligible for the early release scheme.

Inmates jailed for death by drunk or dangerous driving, and historic child sex offences, will also be excluded from from sentencing changes aimed at freeing up space in England’s overcrowded jails.

Burnham said that meants “hundreds” of inmates who had been due to be let out early will now stay behind bars.

It represents a major climbdown by the prime minister, who had previously said he could not amend the policy because of the risk of prison overcrowding.

At the start of this month, the government announced that rapists and serious child sex offenders would not be eligible for early release.

The PM said he “wanted to go even further”, but couldn’t without the prison system collapsing.

But following an angry backlash from the family of PC Harper, Burnham ordered justice secretary Alex Norris to come up with a way to prevent the early release of two of his killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bower.

They were convicted of manslaughter for their part in PC Harper’s killing in 2000.

The pair were due to be freed in January under controversial measures to stop prisons running out of spaces.

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

But confirming the U-turn, the PM said: “We spent the summer turning over every single single stone.

“We’ve come up with a proposal that will allow not just those guilty of manslaughter, the people involved in the killing of PC Harper, but those who have been convicted for indecent assault, those convicted for death by dangerous driving, all of these offenders now will remain in prison. Hundreds of them.”

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