PC Andrew Harper’s killers ‘to be excluded from early release scheme’

Pc Andrew Harper ’s killers will be excluded from the early release scheme and will remain in prison , reports say.

Offenders serving sentences for specific categories of manslaughter will no longer qualify for early discharge, including Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, according to The Telegraph .

Andy Burnham previously promised to do "everything possible" to ensure the pair were not freed from custody, following widespread condemnation of the scheme.

However, the Prime Minister declined to confirm this specific change relating to "unlawful act" manslaughter earlier this month, telling reporters it was "speculation".

He ordered a review into the policy, which is being conducted by Justice Secretary Alex Norris and is expected to be published when Parliament returns from summer recess in September.

Mr Norris was asked by Mr Burnham “to develop a plan to maximise public safety and minimise the early release of prisoners”.

Police chiefs have since been told Mr Norris will introduce secondary legislation to amend the Sentencing Act, according to the newspaper.

Bowers and Cole, two of Pc Harper’s three killers, were passengers in the car that dragged the police officer down a country road after he got caught in a strap attached to the vehicle as they fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.

Under the scheme’s current rules, they would be released next year, halfway through their 13-year sentences.

Labour’s early release scheme started in September 2024 with the aim of easing overcrowding in jails.

It allows certain prisoners to be released after serving 40% of their fixed-term sentence, rather than the usual 50%.

The 2026 Sentencing Act, which became law earlier this year, allows for an expansion of the early release scheme by reducing the threshold from 40% of a fixed-term sentence to a third.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Burnham has excluded rapists and child sex offenders from being eligible for the scheme.

Unlawful act manslaughter is when a person causes the death of another while committing a separate illegal act.