Burnham Vows to Stop Early Release of PC Harper’s Killers

Key Points

• Two of the men convicted of the killing of PC Andrew Harper can be excluded from the government’s early release scheme, Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he is “confident”.
• Burnham has instructed the Justice Secretary to come up with a strategy to prevent the pair from leaving early, which will be submitted to Parliament in September.
• The transfer comes after an extended campaign of public and political pressure over the case as part of an early release programme to allow approximately 5,000 prisoners to be released in England and Wales to ease the prison overcrowding crisis.
• PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, has said she is in “turmoil” over conflicting reports about her son’s killers, calling the handling of the situation a “hash”.
• Even with the comments earlier this week indicating that Burnham felt there was “nothing more” he could do without putting the prison system under “stress,” his position has not changed, he says.
• In 2020, Cole and Bowers received a 13-year sentence for manslaughter and the driver, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence, which he is not eligible to serve early.
• Eligible prisoners can take part in the early release scheme, which reduces their release point from 40% or half of their sentence to as low as a third, due to a crisis of overcrowding within prisons.
• Ministers have issued a warning that there may not be enough prison beds in England and Wales to accommodate inmates by the end of October.
• Previous to this, Burnham excluded prisoners who were convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming offences from the scheme, but not manslaughter.
• The government has also begun to consider whether any of the members of the grooming gangs could be granted early release.

Westminster (Britain Today News) August 11, 2026 – Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is “confident” that a way can be found to prevent two of PC Andrew Harper’s killers from being freed early from prison, as public anger over the case continues to build. Burnham has instructed the Justice Secretary to draw up a plan that would exclude Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from the government’s early release scheme, with the proposals expected to be put before Parliament in September.

The development comes after days of mounting pressure on the government to keep Harper’s killers behind bars, as ministers attempt to balance public outrage over the case against a wider scheme designed to free thousands of offenders and ease severe overcrowding in jails across England and Wales.

Why Is There Pressure to Block the Early Release of PC Harper’s Killers?

Cole and Bowers were jailed for 13 years each after being convicted of the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper in 2020. Under the early release scheme as it currently stands, both men would become eligible for release from prison next year. The prospect of their release has provoked significant public backlash, intensifying scrutiny of Burnham’s justice policy and forcing the government onto the back foot over a case that has come to symbolise wider concerns about the scheme.

PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, told the BBC she had been left in “turmoil” by conflicting reports over whether two of her son’s killers might be freed early, describing the government’s handling of the situation as a “hash”. Her intervention added further weight to calls for ministers to act.

What Has Andy Burnham Said About the Case?

Burnham addressed reporters directly on the issue, insisting that his position had not shifted despite comments he made the previous week that appeared to suggest little more could be done.

“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,”

Burnham said this in remarks made the previous week explaining the limits he believed he had reached.

However, speaking on Tuesday, Burnham rejected the suggestion that he had ever accepted defeat on the issue.

“Nothing has changed,”

He told reporters. He added:

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

Burnham said he intended to hold talks with other political parties in an effort to build “consensus” on the government’s approach to early releases, signalling that he wants cross-party backing for any changes to the scheme rather than acting unilaterally.

What Has Burnham Promised to Do Next?

Burnham has ordered the Justice Secretary to develop a plan specifically aimed at preventing more prisoners from being freed long before the end of their sentences. According to Burnham, this plan will be presented to Parliament in September, allowing MPs to scrutinise the proposals before any changes take effect.

The timing means Cole and Bowers’ fate under the scheme is likely to remain unresolved for several more weeks, during which pressure on the government is expected to continue.

What Is the Government’s Early Release Scheme and Why Was It Introduced?

The early release scheme was introduced to address a severe overcrowding crisis in prisons across England and Wales, where useable capacity is now close to 100%. The number of prison places has failed to keep pace with a significant rise in the prison population over recent decades, a problem that has built up under successive governments rather than emerging suddenly.

Ministers have warned that prison spaces could run out as soon as October, underlining the urgency behind the scheme. To create additional capacity, the government changed the law to allow it to release certain offenders earlier than they would previously have been eligible for release.

How Does the Early Release Scheme Change Sentencing in Practice?

Under the revised rules, the release point for eligible prisoners will move from 40% or half of their custodial term to as little as one third for some offenders, and from two thirds to half for others. The scheme is intended to free approximately 5,000 offenders across England and Wales to relieve pressure on the prison estate.

The scale of the scheme means that any decision to exclude a particular category of offence, such as manslaughter, carries knock-on consequences for large numbers of other prisoners serving similar sentences.

Why Were Manslaughter Convictions Not Already Excluded from the Scheme?

Since taking office, Burnham has already made exemptions to the scheme for prisoners convicted of certain serious offences, including rape and serious child sex offences. However, manslaughter convictions were not included among those exemptions, meaning Cole and Bowers currently remain within the scope of the scheme as it stands.

This omission prompted a significant backlash once it became widely known, with critics arguing that a case as high-profile and serious as PC Harper’s should have been considered for exclusion from the outset. The resulting pressure has been a central driver of the government’s renewed pledge to act, and it explains why the Harper case in particular has become the focal point of a much broader debate about which offences should sit outside the scheme altogether.

How Difficult Will It Be to Exclude Cole and Bowers Specifically?

It remains unclear precisely how the government intends to prevent Cole and Bowers from being treated in the same way as other prisoners with comparable sentences. If ministers were to rule that all prisoners with manslaughter convictions could not be considered for the scheme, this would have an immediate effect on a far wider group of inmates beyond those connected to the Harper case.

This complexity helps explain why the government has taken until September to bring forward detailed proposals, rather than announcing an immediate, narrowly targeted exclusion. Any carve-out will need to withstand scrutiny not only from Parliament but potentially from prisoners who could argue that they are being treated differently to others convicted of the same offence, which is why ministers appear to be treating the drafting of the plan with particular caution.

What Happened to PC Andrew Harper?

PC Andrew Harper, 28, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, died in 2019 after being dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire. His death, and the subsequent trial, attracted extensive public attention and sympathy, factors that continue to shape the politics sensitivity of decisions relating to his killers.

Two of those convicted over his death, Cole and Bowers, were sentenced to 13 years each for manslaughter in 2020. The third man involved, driver Henry Long, received a longer 16-year sentence and, as a result, is not eligible for consideration under the early release scheme in the same way as his co-defendants.

All three defendants were cleared of murder at trial but convicted of manslaughter, a verdict that has remained a source of controversy among Harper’s family and supporters ever since. The case has continued to attract public attention in the years since the conviction, with PC Harper’s family repeatedly speaking out on matters connected to his death and its aftermath, including the treatment of those responsible under the justice system.

Is the Government Also Reviewing Grooming Gang Cases?

Alongside the Harper case, Burnham has ordered a separate and “urgent” review to identify any grooming gang members who might be eligible for release under the early release scheme. This review was launched last week as part of the wider effort to tighten the criteria for the scheme.

The government has not yet confirmed whether the outcome of this review will lead to the prevention of any early releases among offenders convicted of grooming-related offences, leaving that question open pending further announcements. Taken together with the Harper case, the grooming gang review illustrates the pressure the government is under to demonstrate that the early release scheme will not be applied indiscriminately to offenders whose crimes have caused significant public concern.
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What Has the Reaction Been to Burnham’s Handling of the Case?

The response to Burnham’s shifting position over the past week has been marked by frustration among those close to the case, most notably from PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam. Her description of the situation as a “hash” reflects a wider sense among campaigners that the government’s messaging on early releases has, at times, appeared inconsistent, even as Burnham insists his underlying approach has remained the same throughout.

Burnham’s insistence that “nothing has changed” is likely to be tested in the coming weeks, as the Justice Secretary works to translate the prime minister’s stated intentions into a concrete legislative or administrative mechanism capable of excluding Cole and Bowers from the scheme without unravelling the wider early release programme that ministers say is essential to preventing the prison system from reaching capacity.

What Happens Next in the Row Over Early Releases?

With the Justice Secretary now tasked with producing detailed proposals ahead of a September presentation to Parliament, attention will turn to how the government intends to draft an exclusion that targets cases such as Cole and Bowers without triggering unintended consequences across the wider prison population. Burnham’s stated intention to seek cross-party consensus suggests the government may be seeking to avoid the accusation that any changes are being rushed through solely in response to public pressure.

For Debbie Adlam and PC Harper’s wider family, the coming weeks are likely to remain fraught, given the “turmoil” she has already described over conflicting signals about her son’s killers. For Burnham, the case has become a significant early test of his approach to criminal justice policy, requiring him to reconcile public demands for tougher treatment of serious offenders with the practical reality of a prison system operating close to its limits.

Whether the government’s September proposals succeed in specifically excluding Cole and Bowers, without reopening the scheme to legal challenge from other prisoners serving comparable sentences, is likely to determine whether the row over early releases in this case is resolved or continues into the autumn.