Mother of PC Harper ‘bitterly disappointed’ that son’s killers remain eligible for early release – UK politics live

The justice secretary, Alex Norris, is out defending the government’s early release policy on the broadcasters this morning.

He was Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain why people who kill police officers could not be excluded from the scheme like those who committed rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences were. In reference to PC Harper’s killers, Norris said:

Because we have to go on the basis of the conviction. The conviction in this case was on manslaughter. We simply cannot restrict and remove entirely people who have been convicted of manslaughter.

Asked whether the government could have made an exception for PC Harper’s killers, Norris said: “No, you couldn’t do that. Fundamentally, it comes down to the offence for which someone’s been convicted and their sentence type.”

“You can’t go one by one and decide which ones should and shouldn’t come out.”

The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) union has warned that changing the sentencing act at such a late stage has heaped “huge pressure” on already stretched prison staff, making mistakes “more likely”.

The PGA says it is unclear on how many prisoners will now have their sentences recalculated and remain in prison after the government said last night that rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from early release plans for England and Wales.

“We don’t know if it is tens, hundreds or thousands that will be excluded from the so called “progression model’,” it said in a press release.

“The prime minister has acted following calls from victims of crime to do so at a very late stage putting huge pressure on prison and probation staff to get the work of identifying prisoners now excluded and recalculating their sentences done,” it added.

“This pressure, when the work has already been done once and many staff will be away on holiday, makes mistakes more likely.”

PGA president Tom Wheatley said:

Government needs to decide on a direction and stick to it, changing course at a late stage causes scarce resources to be used unnecessarily and puts prison and probation staff under extreme pressure.

Prisoners serving time for some sexual or violent offences where the automatic release stage is set at two-thirds will become eligible for release at the halfway point, provided they have not committed serious breaches of prison rules, as my colleagues note in this story.

This applies to two of PC Harper’s killers – Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers – who were jailed for ۱۳ years in ۲۰۲۰ for manslaughter. Henry Long, the main perpetrator, will not be subject to early release.

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, said on Tuesday that he would delay the planned early release of thousands of prisoners across England and Wales by a month until October.

It follows the suspension of Keir Starmer’s plans to release up to ۶,۰۰۰ offenders from prison early in September amid official predictions that prisons will be full in November.

Burnham suspended the scheme in his second week as PM after coming under intense pressure from MPs, victims, campaigners and frontline prison officers to halt the early release of serious sexual and violent offenders.

In a statement, Burnham said:

I asked for an urgent review of the prisoner release scheme. I fully understand the anger, anxiety and distress that’s been caused. I’ve heard that loud and clear. That’s why we’re making significant changes: offenders who have been sentenced for rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences will be excluded from the changes.

The domestic abuse commissioner, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the decision to exclude those who have abused their partners was “wrong” and “puts victims’ lives at risk”.

You can read more in this story by my colleagues Rajeev Syal and Alexandra Topping:

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. The mother of PC Andrew Harper said her family are “bitterly disappointed” that her son’s killers remain eligible for early release after the government revised plans to tackle the overcrowding crisis in prisons.

Following pressure from victims, MPs and frontline prison officers, rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from the scheme for England and Wales, the government said on Monday.

But domestic abusers and killers will still be eligible for early release, including two men jailed for their role in the death of PC Harper, who sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August ۲۰۱۹.

“Quite frankly, we shouldn’t be in this position,” Debbie Adlam, PC Harper’s mother, told BBC Breakfast.

She said it was “completely right” that rapists and paedophiles are not going to be released under the government’s latest plans, but added “they shouldn’t have been considered in the first place”.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Adlam said she was “devastated” that two of her son’s killers remain eligible for early release. She told the programme:

It feels like we’re letting Andrew down again. We’ve been through the justice system, we thought we’d done as best as we could. Now we’re standing up to fight again … so I just feel really let down, for Andrew’s sake as well as ours.

The justice secretary, Alex Norris, told Sky News this morning that the latest changes to the early release scheme would see ۵,۰۰۰ prisoners released over ۱۰ months, down from ۶,۰۰۰.

He said the government won’t need further emergency release schemes as sentencing changes would provide “long-term security” for prison capacity.

Writing in the Telegraph, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, said he asked the justice secretary to consider the early release of more female prisoners, “given the lower risk they generally pose” in order to prevent further overcrowding.

Burnham said he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible” but was unable to exempt more criminals from the early release scheme without the prison system “collapsing within months”.

PC Harper’s wife, Lissie Harper, has expressed anger at the prospect that two of her late husband’s killers could be released early, calling it “an affront to justice” and “an utter betrayal”. The justice secretary said he understood the family’s “anger” and offered an apology.

He told Sky News:

Were we not to make these changes, then we would run out of prison places in this October or November.

I know that’s difficult. I know that’s created harm, and it’s not Lissie Harper’s fault, and I’m sorry that she’s been put into this situation as a result, I genuinely am.