(Image: Thames Valley Police/PA Wire)
The early release of two of police officer Andrew Harper’s killers is a “serious kick in the teeth for the loved ones and colleagues of officers we have lost”, the North Yorkshire Police Federation has said.
Tony Barnes, the federation’s secretary, has called on the government to rethink its proposals which could see Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers freed as part of a scheme starting in October.
Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after ministers exempted rapists and “serious” child sex offenders as part of the scheme to tackle overcrowding in jails.
Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences after they were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following PC Harper’s death in 2019 aged 28.
Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers (right) were jailed for the 2019 killing in 2020
(Image: Thames Valley Police/PA Wire)
More than 150,000 people have signed a petition in the past 24 hours demanding the government takes action to keep the killers in jail.
It comes as PC Harper’s former force, Thames Valley Police, announced it is considering joining potential legal action against the government.
Mr Barnes has joined calls for the government to reconsider the government’s proposals to not include those convicted of killing police officers from being released from jail early.
Prime minister Andy Burnham’s intervened to review the scheme and concluded that certain high-risk offenders would be excluded from it.
But Mr Barnes said it was disappointing that “those convicted of killing officers could still be eligible to benefit” by being released from prison early.
“It goes without saying that this hasn’t been received well within our profession and among those connected to it, and I am calling on the government to have a rethink,” Mr Barnes said.
“Otherwise, it will be a serious kick in the teeth for the loved ones and colleagues of officers we have lost and miss every day.”
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Mr Barnes said anyone convicted of killing a police officer should be barred from being released from jail early, adding: “I hope ministers will reconsider before these changes take effect.”
“Every police officer knows the risks that come with the job, but they should also expect that if the worst happens, there will be proper justice for everything that comes with their life being taken away,” he said.
“For me, that means recognising that the murder of a police officer is an attack on public service and on the rule of law itself, and should be treated accordingly.
“Not only will the families of fallen officers have gone through unimaginable pain in losing their loved one, but many will still be processing and adjusting to life without them. The last thing they should have to contend with is the possibility that those responsible for their pain may be released early from prison.”