See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 09:06 BST, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 15:47 BST, 10 August 2026
Two men jailed over the killing of PC Andrew Harper appear set to be released from prison early despite widespread public fury after No10 said Andy Burnham was powerless to stop it. Downing Street said it was 'not possible' to exempt 'one or two offenders' convicted of manslaughter amid an outcry at the possibility of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers being freed under a scheme to reduce prison overcrowding.It came after reports the new Prime Minister had been forced to abandon a plan to keep them locked up after being told it would spark a massive legal challenge. Mr Burnham was said to have been examining whether to exclude people who kill emergency service personnel from the controversial scheme that releases prisoners after serving half their term.But he was told it was a 'non-starter' that would be defeated by legal challenges because manslaughter of an emergency worker is not a specific offence.It means the only way to stop them from being freed may be to block the release of all prisoners convicted of manslaughter – keeping almost 1,000 eligible for early release incarcerated.But Aileen O'Connor, head of the Thames Valley Police Federation, said she is considers taking legal action against the Government.'The public are speaking loudly and clearly. They agree with us that the Government are firmly on the wrong side of this, she said.'What they are doing is indefensible. And they simply cannot defend it. They must listen. The Prime Minister must listen.'PC Harper (pictured with his wife Lissie) was 28 when he was killed in August 2019 after responding to reports of a stolen quad bike in Berkshire Albert Bowers, left, and Jessie Cole, right, jailed for his manslaughter, would be eligible for early release this year after serving half their 13-year sentencesJoin the discussionIs early release after half a sentence ever acceptable for manslaughter?What's your view?Mr Burnham's official spokesman told reporters manslaughter of an emergency worker was 'not a standalone offence' and it was 'not possible to simply exclude one or two offenders' within the wider category of manslaughter.Asked whether ministers were accepting the situation as it stands, the spokesman said: 'I think you've seen from the Prime Minister's words that he's far from accepting the situation and as he wrote last week he wants to go even further.'He's pushed hard on what more we could do and his focus now is on fixing the prison system long term to avoid a repeat of this prison crisis so that it never happens again.'Pressed on whether the Prime Minister was admitting there was nothing more he could do, the official said: 'He understands the public wants him to go further, and he wanted to go further, but on the wider issue that prisons would have run out of space, police would stop making arrests, it would be impossible to lock up convicted offenders and that would put public safety at untold risk.' Last week Mr Burnham said he had been 'pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing' by already excluding 1,000 prisoners sentenced for 'rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences' from eligibility. PC Harper was 28 when he was killed in August 2019 after responding to reports of a stolen quad bike in Berkshire. He suffered horrific injuries after getting caught in a strap attached to a getaway car driven by Henry Long, who was jailed for 16 years. His accomplices Cole and Bowers, who were pictured laughing during their trial, were both sentenced in 2020 to 13 years for manslaughter. Some 5,000 other criminals are expected to be released early under sentencing changes from October over a period of ten months - a figure already reduced from 6,000 after the exemptions for rapists, child sex offenders and groomers after an urgent review of the scheme. More than 850,000 people have signed a petition calling for Cole and Bowers to remain in jail, with a Government source telling The Daily Telegraph on Friday the Prime Minister is prepared to 'explore every option' to block their early release.But, according to The Times, civil servants quashed the plan to block their release, with a source saying: 'It's impossible, there is no way to make an exception for them without extending it to everyone convicted of manslaughter.'
