UK PM Orders Search for Way to Keep PC Harper's Killers in Jail Longer

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told his justice secretary to find a way to prevent the killers of PC Andrew Harper from benefiting from an early release scheme aimed at easing prison overcrowding. The BBC has been told that Burnham is confident a solution can be found for Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020.

Background to the Case

PC Harper, 28, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in August 2019 after being dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire. Cole and Bowers were found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter. Under changes to the Sentencing Act made earlier this year, prisoners convicted of certain serious violent crimes now become eligible for release after serving just half their sentence — rather than the previous two-thirds. Cole and Bowers are due to become eligible for release from custody in January.

Government Response

Downing Street had earlier warned that it would not be possible to single out "one or two offenders" for different treatment. But the prime minister has since asked the justice secretary to explore further options. "The prime minister has asked the Justice Secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in custody for longer," a government spokesperson said. No final decision on how to exclude Cole and Bowers has been made public.