Burnham U-turn keeps PC Andrew Harper’s killers behind bars as prison crisis deepens

PM blocks early release for killers, rapists and child abusers — but warns the prison system is already close to collapse

Harper killers will stay in prison

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has dramatically reversed course on the early release of some of England and Wales’ most serious offenders, ensuring that the two men convicted over the killing of PC Andrew Harper will remain behind bars.

The last-minute intervention will prevent offenders convicted of all forms of manslaughter, rape, child sexual abuse and grooming offences from benefiting from the new early-release arrangements.

Around 1,400 prisoners are expected to be affected by the change.

The decision was welcomed by police, victims’ groups and Harper’s family, although his mother Debbie Adlam said the campaign to secure the change had been emotionally exhausting.

“Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison,” Burnham said.

A family forced to fight all over again

PC Harper was just 28 when he was killed while responding to a quad bike theft in Berkshire in August 2019.

Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 17 at the time, were passengers in the stolen vehicle and were convicted of manslaughter. Each received a 13-year custodial sentence.

For Harper’s mother, the government’s U-turn is therefore welcome — but hardly a victory.

Adlam said the family had been “put through the mill” and had effectively been forced to fight simply to restore the position they believed should never have changed.

Thames Valley Police said the decision would be welcomed by many across policing and local communities.

Chief Constable Jason Hogg insisted the issue was about more than politics.

“Today is not about politics. It is about remembering Andrew,” he said.

The prison time-bomb

But there is a remarkable sting in the tail.

Burnham's intervention means fewer prisoners can be released early at precisely the moment Britain’s prisons are already running close to capacity.

The government had originally expected as many as 6,000 prisoners to benefit from the new arrangements.

That figure is now expected to fall to around 4,600.

And the prime minister openly admitted that he had pushed the prison system “to the very limits”.

“I wanted to go even further,” Burnham said, but warned that doing so could risk the prison system collapsing within months and potentially putting the public at greater risk.

'One major incident away from disaster'

Prison reform campaigners are now warning that the system has almost no room left for manoeuvre.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League, welcomed plans to address prisoners serving indefinite sentences but warned that the prison estate was “one major incident away from a disaster.”

A serious riot or major public disturbance, she said, could wipe out the remaining capacity.

The problem is compounded by the fact that some of the government's proposed solutions will take time.

Ministers have talked about deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some people serving indefinite sentences to create additional space.

But Burnham acknowledged that only hundreds of foreign prisoners are likely to be deported in the immediate term.

The IPP problem

The government is also promising to end what Burnham calls the injustice of indefinite imprisonment for people still serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

More than 2,000 people remain behind bars in England and Wales under the legacy of the system, despite IPPs having been abolished more than a decade ago.

The reforms could eventually free prison places, but experts warn they are complicated and unlikely to solve the immediate overcrowding crisis.

And that is the uncomfortable problem facing Downing Street.

Burnham has now drawn a line around the release of some of the most dangerous offenders — precisely the prisoners many people would argue should never have been included in an early-release scheme in the first place.

But every prisoner kept behind bars occupies a cell that the system desperately needs.

The political battle is only beginning

Critics accuse Labour of making a politically convenient decision after intense pressure from police, victims and the public.

The shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy has demanded emergency legislation and parliamentary scrutiny, arguing that the government should properly exclude the worst offenders rather than attempting to patch the scheme at the last minute.

Meanwhile, prison reform groups warn that the broader sentencing reforms painstakingly developed after the independent review led by former justice secretary David Gauke could be undermined.

The Prison Reform Trust has also highlighted the huge number of people held on remand awaiting trial — around 18% of the prison population.

Its warning is blunt: when prisons become completely full, they become little more than warehouses, with rehabilitation suffering and self-harm increasing.

Burnham’s impossible balancing act

So Burnham now faces a brutal balancing act.

Keep serious offenders locked up and risk running out of prison places — or release them earlier and face the fury of victims, police and the public.

The prime minister has chosen the politically safer side of that argument for now.

PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain behind bars.

But the prison system itself remains dangerously close to the edge — and Burnham has effectively admitted that there may be very little room left before the whole system begins to buckle.

SOURCE

Retroactive capital punishment for all lifers would solve the problem overnight. What is the point keeping them alive? Start with Starmers darling Welsh choirboy, it will get easier with practise.

Calamity Andy' Chump of the north has u-turned again .. can't wait for him to answer his first hard question that's not his mothers maiden name.