Burnham ‘confident’ early release of PC Harper’s killers can be halted

Andy Burnham says he is “confident” PC Andrew Harper’s killers can be excluded from the government’s early release scheme, as outcry over the case grows.

The prime minister has now ordered the justice secretary to find a way to bar Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were jailed for 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, from early release.

It marks a shift from last week, when he said there was “nothing more” he could do without risking the collapse of the prison system.

The move comes after days of pressure to exclude Harper’s killers from the scheme, which is aiming to free about 5,000 offenders in England and Wales to make space in overcrowded jails.

Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, told the BBC she was in “turmoil” following conflicting reports about whether two of her son’s killers would be released from prison early, describing the handling of the situation as a “hash”.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Burnham and Labour of “re-traumatising victims and their families with their constant U-turns”.

Burnham said a new plan to prevent more prisoners from being freed long before the end of their sentences would be presented to Parliament in September.

It comes after he initially announced some prisoners convicted of rape, serious child sex and other grooming offences would be barred from early release, after a review of the scheme he ordered after he became prime minister.

In an article published last week, external, Burnham said he had “wanted to go even further” but had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do”.

He added: “I know I can look people in the eye and say to them there is nothing more I could have asked for without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing within months.”

But on Tuesday, Burnham insisted he had never accepted “there was nothing more that could be done” to prevent the early release of more offenders, including Harper’s killers.

“I came into office and started pushing on this issue, and I have pushed every single day in office,” he added.

Burnham said he would seek to hold talks with other political parties to build “consensus” on the approach to early releases.