'Our concern is for victims': West Yorks Police chief urges PM to stop early release of PC Harper’s killers
Police chiefs pens letter to Prime Minister over sentencing changes
West Yorkshire’s top cop has called on the Prime Minister to prevent the release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.
Chief Constable John Robins has joined more than 50 policing leaders also calling for the introduction of stronger protection for victims and communities when release arrangements change.
The 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.
The letter said: “When someone is sentenced for an exceptionally serious offence, how much confidence can victims, bereaved families and the public place in that sentence if subsequent changes to release arrangements result in an offender being released significantly earlier than originally anticipated?
“This question extends far beyond policing.
“Families across the country are now facing the distress of learning that offenders may be released earlier than they understood when sentence was passed.
“We do not suggest that the grief of a police family is greater than that of any other bereaved family, nor that the life of an emergency worker has greater value.
“Our concern is for all victims and families affected by serious offending sentencing changes.
“PC Andrew Harper lost his life while protecting the public and serving his community. Following his death, Lissie Harper campaigned for a change in the law, leading Parliament to establish Harper's Law, recognising the exceptional risks emergency workers take while protecting others.
“While Harper's Law cannot retrospectively alter the sentences imposed following PC Andrew Harper’s death, the principle behind it remains important. Those who serve and protect the public should know that the justice system recognises the risks they take on society's behalf.
“Victims and bereaved families should be confident that sentences imposed for the most serious offences retain meaning and that public protection remains a central consideration when release decisions are made.”
It comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he “wouldn’t forgive myself” if he did not try to lessen the “anguish” of Pc Andrew Harper’s family, as he seeks to prevent the early release of the police officer’s killers.
Mr Burnham has ordered Justice Secretary Alex Norris to draw up plans to free up prison space for serious offenders, and said he is “increasingly confident” Pc Harper’s killers will not be released early from their sentences as a result.
Speaking to LBC, the Prime Minister was asked if he had a message for Aimee Harper, the sister of the police officer who died in the line of duty in 2019, and who had shared with the broadcaster her experience of sitting in the courtroom with his killers.
Asked what he would directly say to Ms Harper, Mr Burnham replied: “That I hear you, I feel for you. I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t do everything I possibly could to try and lessen your anguish, and I am doing that.
“I am turning over every stone. I am looking at everything. I am pushing the system to go further.”
The letter adds: “The public should be able to trust that when a court passes sentence for the most serious crimes, victims, public protection and confidence in the justice system remain at the heart of any subsequent decisions about release.”