Downing Street has told Prime Minister Andy Burnham it is not possible to exempt individual manslaughter offenders from an early release scheme, leaving two men convicted in the 2019 death of PC Andrew Harper eligible for freedom in January.
Burnham had asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to find a way to exclude the killers from the Sentencing Act changes, which cut the minimum time many offenders must serve. Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, sentenced to 13 years in 2020, remain on track for release halfway through their terms, while driver Henry Long's 16-year extended sentence keeps him ineligible.
Harper's mother, Debbie Adlam, has requested a meeting with Burnham following the decision. A petition demanding the killers remain imprisoned has surpassed 880,000 signatures. Aileen O'Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, called the government's failure to block the release indefensible. The government has warned that prison spaces could run out as soon as October, when the early release programme begins and is expected to free approximately 5,000 inmates.