The UK Prime Minister has announced that individuals convicted of unlawful killing will be excluded from the early release scheme, meaning those responsible for the death of Andrew Harper will remain in prison. This was reported by infohub.kz.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that "hundreds" of people will remain in prison as part of changes to the scheme designed to ease overcrowding in prisons. "We've come up with a proposal which 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," he said in an interview with the BBC.
"I heard obviously what Andrew Harper's family were saying. I mean who couldn't? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison," the Prime Minister added.
Burnham said extra space in prisons would be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some prisoners who are serving indefinite sentences. The Prime Minister ordered a review of the scheme, which is being undertaken by the Justice Secretary, Alex Norris, and is set to be published when Parliament returns from summer recess in September.
This decision follows widespread condemnation of the scheme when it emerged that Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole could be released halfway through their 13-year sentences. In August 2019, Harper, 28, died when he was dragged down a country road in Berkshire by a car as Cole, Bowers and their accomplice Henry Long fled the scene of a quad bike theft. All three were convicted of manslaughter in 2020. Cole and Bowers were sentenced to 13 years in prison and could have potentially been released early as part of the government's drive to free up prison places.