Andy Burnham came under fire last night amid claims his latest adjustment to the prison early-release programme could put the public at risk.
The Prime Minister is facing renewed criticism after revising the policy so that the killers of PC Andrew Harper remain in custody — a move welcomed by campaigners, but one that critics say will also clear the way for hundreds of other dangerous offenders to leave prison sooner.
In the latest reversal over the deeply contentious scheme, Mr Burnham announced that prisoners convicted of unlawful killing would be barred from early release.
The decision means Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, convicted in 2020 of the officer’s manslaughter, will no longer qualify for release next year — bringing relief to PC Harper’s family and senior policing figures.
However, ministers are seeking to create the extra prison places needed for the change by freeing inmates serving indefinite imprisonment for public protection sentences, known as IPPs, which were imposed between 2005 and 2012 on offenders judged to pose a serious risk to the public.
Current and former ministers warned that the solution could pose a far higher risk to the public because many IPP prisoners have been assessed as too dangerous to release.
One of Mr Burnham’s own senior ministers condemned the plans, saying: ‘The Prime Minister has been too focused on media response rather than actual risk.
‘He’s bowed to public pressure over the reaction to PC Harper’s killers and not focused on the actual high-risk, high-harm perpetrators.
Andy Burnham tells the BBC that PC Harper’s killers will not qualify for early release
Mr Burnham speaking to TV personality Georgia Harrison about the possibility of making Georgia’s Law
Ms Harrison pictured at the BAFTA Television Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 10
‘Are those who’ve committed manslaughter likely to come out of prison and commit manslaughter again? No. But I can guarantee you that the obsessed stalker or domestic abuser will come out and relentlessly pursue their victim again.’
Mr Burnham also faced criticism from campaigners who said the exemptions to the scheme did not go far enough because any persistent offenders, such as domestic abusers and stalkers, will still be let out early, putting victims at risk.
Some 5,000 prisoners had been due to be released early from next month under plans to ease jail overcrowding, down from 6,000 after ministers intervened to exempt rapists and serious child sex offenders.
Yesterday Mr Burnham limited the scheme further, blocking all those convicted of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving, indecent assault and grooming gang perpetrators.
He said: ‘We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving.
‘This means the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened.’
Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, said: ‘For victims of domestic abuse across the country, this announcement won’t bring reassurance.
‘While it’s good to see more dangerous offenders exempt from this scheme, I remain deeply concerned about the number of abusers who will still be eligible for early release.
Thames Valley Police mugshots of Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers who are no longer eligible for early release
Thames Valley Police officer, PC Andrew Harper, was killed in the line of duty on August 15, 2019
Bowers and Cole pictured leaving Reading Magistrates Court following an hearing in 2019
‘This decision does not change the fact that victims and survivors will still be forced to take measures to protect themselves from dangerous abusers because the Government and our criminal justice system cannot.’
Former justice secretary David Gauke warned that the release of IPP prisoners carried ‘much higher risks’, adding: ‘The reality is that the remaining IPPs are in prison for good reason.
‘They have been assessed (repeatedly) as being high risk. I looked at their prison disciplinary records and in many cases it was clear why they’d not been released.
‘Caution is still needed. In terms of public protection, releasing IPPs comes with much higher risks than the categories excluded from the early-release scheme.’
Tory justice spokesman Nick Timothy said: ‘They’re among the most dangerous people in prison. Will they all be released? Just some? How many? And on what timescale? What about those who would have had a life sentence had IPP not existed?’
He added: ‘This is Andy Burnham’s fifth position on early release in less than six weeks since he became PM. There are serious questions about what he’s now proposing.
‘Put plainly, Andy Burnham’s early-release policy will endanger the British public. He seems to be trying to stop the release of one set of dangerous criminals by releasing another set of dangerous criminals.’
Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, said: ‘I know first-hand the crisis facing the criminal justice system in Britain, but changing the early-release scheme from favouring one set of dangerous criminals to another set of dangerous criminals does very little to protect the public.
Richard Lloyd was convicted in May 2008 at Coventry Crown Court. He was 26 years old at the time of sentencing
Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse
Nicholas Bidar became the first IPP prisoner to have his parole bid held in public after new laws came into force
‘While Mr Burnham focuses on winning a PR battle, today’s announcement will still put decent law-abiding citizens in danger. The Government must get a grip and explain exactly how and when it will increase prison capacity, which is the only way to put a stop to this crisis once and for all.’
The PM has also met revenge-porn campaigner and former Love Island star Georgia Harrison to discuss her campaign for ‘Georgia’s Law’.
Stephen Bear was jailed in 2023 for sharing a sex tape of Ms Harrison on his OnlyFans page. But after his release from prison, Bear breached his order by posting degrading comments about Ms Harrison online.
She is calling for a social media ‘kill switch’ so posts are removed while they are reviewed.
IPP sentences were scrapped in 2012, but the abolition was not retrospective, leaving many IPP prisoners behind bars because they can be released only once the Parole Board is satisfied they no longer need to be confined for public safety.
As of June 30, 856 IPP prisoners were behind bars. Eight in ten of those have served at least ten years beyond the minimum term at which they can apply for parole.
A further 1,415 prisoners have been recalled after being handed IPP sentences.
A cross-party oversight group will be set up to look at the IPP system. Mr Burnham said spaces will also be created by deporting foreign prisoners.
Thames Valley Police boss Jason Hogg welcomed the guarantee that Bowers and Cole will remain behind bars.
But he said many police leaders remain concerned about plans to release offenders early and jail fewer criminals by ditching shorter prison sentences.
He described a ‘criminal justice system in crisis’, warning that forces would have to shift resources from other policing priorities to deal with offenders released into the community.
Bowers and Cole were passengers in the car that dragged PC Harper to his death after he tried to stop a gang stealing a quad bike in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.
Aileen O’Connor, the chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, started a petition that attracted more than a million signatures to keep them in prison.
She said: ‘We are pleased the Government – despite what was, frankly, initial reluctance – has eventually listened, seen sense and made the right decision to keep these lowlifes behind bars.’