Prison Service officials have warned Prime Minister Andy Burnham that altering the early release scheme to keep PC Andrew Harper's killers behind bars would trigger another wave of early releases within 18 months, according to Whitehall sources. The warning comes as a petition demanding intervention approaches 900,000 signatures.
Exemption would force further releases
Officials told No 10 that adding an exemption for manslaughter convictions, such as those of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, would mean additional early releases would be needed before the next general election. Cole and Bowers, sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, are due for release in January under the government's plan to free 5,000 prisoners over 10 months from October.
A Whitehall source said: "People in the Prison Service are terrified by the prospect of another exemption. They have told the PM that if they carve out manslaughter cases there will have to be another early release scheme before the general election." Blocking their release could delay at least 500 other offenders also convicted of manslaughter, the source added.
Legal and practical challenges
Ministers have been advised that carving out exclusions for Cole and Bowers but not others convicted of manslaughter would risk a legal challenge. Downing Street said on Monday that the prime minister had "pushed hard on what more we could do," but exempting "one or two offenders" was not possible because manslaughter of an emergency worker is not a stand-alone offence. Any exemption would affect all offenders with manslaughter convictions.
The government has already reduced the number of early releases from 6,000 to 5,000 by exempting 1,000 rapists, child sexual abuse offenders, and groomers. Burnham said last week he had "pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do" with those exemptions.
Former watchdog criticises potential change
Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons from 2010 to 2016, said changing the scheme amid public outcry would be an example of "hard cases making bad law." He said: "I am appalled by what happened to PC Harper. Like everyone, I feel sympathetic with those saying that the government should keep these two men in prison. But we have to be careful about the principle here. We should be uneasy about politicians deciding what happens to particular offenders."
Hardwick added: "If the government did change the legal framework to exclude these two men from early release, it could well be an example of 'hard cases making bad law'." He sympathised with Burnham's predicament, noting that the Prison Service "on the current trajectory will run out of space soon," and the early release scheme is "crude."
Government defends approach
Ministry of Justice officials said prisons could run out of places in November if the scheme was abandoned. Asked whether ministers were accepting the situation, Burnham's spokesperson 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 ... 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."
