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Andy Burnham said he is “increasingly confident” the killers of Pc Andrew Harper will not be released early from their sentences, because ways can be found to free up prison space for serious offenders.
The Prime Minister said “I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early” as he claimed to have been “pressing every single day to go further” on limiting the number of inmates who will be set free as part of the measures to reduce overcrowding.
Mr Burnham said he had “never taken no for an answer” as he confirmed he had ordered Justice Secretary Alex Norris to draw up plans to increase the number of cells available to keep more serious offenders behind bars.
Mr Norris had been asked to fast-track proposals to create “more headroom” in the prison system, including through deporting more foreign offenders, finding a solution for people on indeterminate sentences and using cells previously holding female inmates to accommodate male offenders.
Pc Andrew Harper (Thames Valley Police/PA)PA MediaThe Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I’ve heard the depth of concern felt across the country about the potential release of the killers of Pc Andrew Harper and obviously I feel for the family and the anguish that they’re going through.
“What I have done since I came into office is push the system every single day to go further. I’ve not accepted it’s impossible to do more. I believe there is more that can be done.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham set out his intention to free up prison spaces to keep serious offenders behind bars in an interview with broadcasters (Toby Shepheard/PA)PA WireThe Prime Minister ordered a review of the early release scheme under the Sentencing Act shortly after taking office, but while changes were announced to prevent rapists and paedophiles being released early the measures did not cover Pc Harper’s killers.
The officer was fatally injured when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.
Two out of three of Pc Harper’s killers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, are set to be released next year halfway through their 13-year sentences, after being convicted of manslaughter in 2020.
Before this year’s Sentencing Act, they would have served two-thirds of their term.
Mr Burnham previously said he had “pushed the very limits” in the changes he had made to the early release scheme, but has now said he can go further.
“I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early, and that’s the spirit that I’ve brought to the first three weeks that I’ve served as Prime Minister, and I’ve always worked like that,” he said during a visit in Derbyshire.
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“I’ve never taken no for an answer, not in the past dealing with Hillsborough and other issues, and not now when I’m facing the situation that I’m looking at now.”
Earlier, Mr Burnham wrote on Facebook that he was “increasingly confident that a more focused approach” to creating more headroom in the prison system would “allow us to reduce the number of people released early and, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of Pc Harper, prevent their early release altogether”.
The plans will be presented to Parliament when MPs and peers return from their summer break next month and Mr Burnham said he was keen to talk to opposition parties about them.
Mr Norris said: “We are working through every serious option to create more capacity without tipping prisons into collapse – which would be the worst possible outcome for victims.”
Pc Harper’s mother said she had received a call from Downing Street on Monday night and has “got a little bit of hope that we didn’t have before” that the killers will not be released early.
Discussing the call she had with a member of the Prime Minister’s staff, Debbie Adlam told BBC Breakfast: “She said that he wanted to convey that he wants to do everything that he can and has more hope now of finding a resolution to this to try and keep them in prison.
“I think the fact that it’s actually come from Downing Street – I’ve got to try and have some faith in it but, at the same time, I have to protect my own feelings.”
But she added: “It feels like a hash. It feels like a rush job. It feels like nobody’s put enough effort into actually look for reasons or ways.
“We are having to push on every level, and it just doesn’t feel like, as a British citizen, I shouldn’t be doing this. They weren’t given extreme sentences, and I’m only asking for them to do what they were given.”
Thames Valley Police Federation chairwoman Aileen O’Connor said there was now a “glimmer of hope” that Mr Burnham would prevent the release of Pc Harper’s killers but “we have heard mixed messages before”.
She added that the Government’s actions so far “have sent a deeply troubling message” about the value they place on police officers.
“Their actions so far have been totally demoralising for all police officers – not just in Thames Valley, but right across the country,” she said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Andy Burnham and Labour are re-traumatising victims and their families with their constant U-turns.”
He added: “It’s clear that good vibes and a snazzy t-shirt do not make for competent government.
“Mr Burnham is letting down victims and their families on a daily basis.
“It’s not good enough.”
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said his party would not work with the Government on the issue while an early release scheme remained on the table.
His party has suggested renting cells in El Salvador for foreign offenders to free up space in jails in England and Wales.