Andy Burnham has asked the justice secretary to “work through further options” to keep the “most serious offenders in prison” - including PC Andrew Harper’s killers - after mounting public backlash over plans to release them early.
The prime minister said he is “increasingly confident” that work to increase space in the prison system “will 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”.
On Monday Downing Street said it was “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from early release.
But Mr Burnham has now said justice secretary Alex Norris will now look at ways to keep “a greater number of the most serious offenders” behind bars and will announce the plans when Parliament returns in September.
The plan will be based “on a range of options”, Mr Burnham said, including “increasing the rate of removal of foreign national offenders from the prison estate to their country of origin; finding an early resolution to the long-running injustice of IPP sentences, which could allow for the release of lower-risk prisoners; and making greater use of the entire prison estate including using the female estate for male offenders”.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter, are set to be freed in January - half way through their sentences - under existing plans.
A government spokesperson said: “The prime minister has asked the justice secretary to work through further options to keep a greater number of the most serious offenders in prison, including the killers of PC Harper.”
Downing Street is facing immense backlash over the situation, with more than 880,000 people signing a petition calling for the pair to remain in jail, while Thames Valley Police Federation is weighing legal action to prevent their release.
Meanwhile, on Monday night, PC Harper’s “really angry” mother Debbie Adlam told ITV News she had not heard from the prime minister: “My message is that you want to tour the country, you want to meet the people. You haven’t even got in touch with me. How about coming to see me?”
Chris Bushnell, a first responder to PC Harper’s death, accused Mr Burnham’s government of “spitting in the faces of police officers, saying he finds the possibility of Cole and Bowers being released early “absolutely outrageous”.
But speaking on Tuesday, Ms Adlam said her and her family now have “a little bit of hope that we didn’t have before” after she had a call from a member of Andy Burnham’s Downing Street staff late last night.
Discussing the call, she said: “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.”
PC Harper 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.
Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after some exemptions were announced as part of an urgent review of the scheme to tackle jail overcrowding.
Exemptions were made for those convicted of rape, serious child sex offences and grooming offences.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for early release.
Last week, the prime minister said he had “pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do without risking the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing” by making these exemptions.
Number 10 said on Monday that manslaughter of an emergency worker was “not a standalone offence” and it was “not possible to simply exclude one or two offenders” within the wider category of manslaughter.
But in a statement on Tuesday, Mr Burnham said: “I understand the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper – and I share it... It is incumbent on me as prime minister to do everything within my power to minimise that possibility. And I am determined to do so.
“I have spent recent days considering in depth all of the issues involved and the range of advice I have received. I have been pushing for further progress. I have not accepted that it is impossible to do more.
“As a result, I have asked the justice secretary to fast-track the development of a plan for presentation to Parliament early next month to create more headroom within the prison system.”
He added: “I am increasingly confident that a more focused approach along these lines will 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.”
Before the justice secretary presents his proposals to parliament, the government will “seek to engage other political parties in discussions with the aim of gaining the widest possible public and political consensus on the approach being taken”, Mr Burnham said.
Reforms in the Sentencing Act came after prisons came close to running out of space entirely last year, risking the “total breakdown of law and order”, which would leave police unable to make arrests and courts unable to send offenders to custody, the then justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said.
The changes cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison. Those freed will face tougher probation conditions, including electronic monitoring, random drug testing and possible bans from driving, pubs and events such as football matches.
