Andy Burnham visits The Hub cafe in Derbyshire as part of his tour of the UK. (Alamy)
2 min read11 August
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is “increasingly confident” that plans to free up prison spaces will not mean the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers.
Burnham said on Tuesday that he had asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to find ways of exempting more of the most serious criminals from the government’s early release scheme.
Speaking in Derbyshire this morning, the PM said: “I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early, and that’s the spirit that I’ve brought to the first three weeks that I’ve served as Prime Minister, and I’ve always worked like that.
“I’m confident that there’s more that can be done, and will be done to address public concern.”
Burnham has said that options on the table to create additional space in the prison system include quicker removal of foreign national offenders, releasing lower-risk prisoners serving indefinite sentences, and making better use of Britain’s prison capacity, including using female prisons for male offenders.
“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,” said Burnham.
Norris is expected to present proposals to Parliament in early September.
The new Labour government is coming under pressure to ensure that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers are not released early as part of efforts to relieve pressure on prison capacity.
The pair, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, were due to be freed in January after serving around half of their sentences.
“I’ve heard the depth of concern felt across the country about the potential release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper. I feel for the family and the anguish that they’re going through,” Burnham has said.
The government has already announced that murderers, rapists and child sex offenders, including grooming gang perpetrators, would be exempt from the scheme.
However, the Harper case has put pressure on ministers to go further, following criticism from his relatives and friends.
At the same time, the government is trying to make sure that prisons in England and Wales do not run out of space amid recent warnings that the estate is close to reaching full capacity.