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Harper killers stay jailed
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced changes to the early release scheme so that anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including manslaughter, would be excluded and PC Andrew Harper’s killers would not have their sentence shortened.
“anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, would be excluded”
Burnham said the changes would keep “hundreds” of people behind bars, and he told the BBC that the scheme would have made two of the officer’s killers eligible for early release.
The BBC reported that Harper was responding to a burglary in Berkshire in 2019 when he was dragged along a road by a vehicle as three teenagers fled the scene of a quad bike theft.
BBC Breakfast also reported that Debbie Adlam, Harper’s mother, welcomed the decision, saying, “I am glad and really grateful that this has been the outcome for us, but I worry immensely for those it doesn't happen for,” while Burnham said he could “look them in the eye now” as he confirmed the changes.
The Independent added that Burnham said he had taken action during his first weeks as prime minister to block “vile criminals” who commit rape, sexually abuse children and groom vulnerable young people.
Debate over sentencing gaps
Debbie Adlam told BBC Breakfast that while she welcomed the outcome, she worried about “those it doesn't happen for,” and she said “the overall system has left some huge gaps still.”
In an interview with LBC, Matthew Barber described the change as a “bittersweet victory” and said it “underlines fundamental flaws with the Sentencing Act.”
Barber told LBC that government messaging had shifted repeatedly, saying, “We've seen a significant prevarication from the government. First, this was going to happen, then it wasn't going to be possible, then it was going to happen, and back on and off several times.”
Burnham told the BBC that he heard Harper’s family and said, “I heard obviously what Andrew Harper's family were saying, I mean who couldn't? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison.”
The BBC also reported that Chief Constable Jason Hogg said the announcement would be “welcomed by many across policing and our communities,” and he hoped it would bring reassurance to Harper’s family and other victims.
Prison capacity and deportations
Burnham told the BBC that extra prison space would be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates serving indefinite sentences, and he said he had applied “common sense” on the treatment of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences.
“extra prison space would be created by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates serving indefinite sentences”
The BBC reported that IPPs were available between 2005 and 2012 and that, once a minimum term has been served, release depends on the Parole Board being satisfied the prisoner no longer needs to be confined for public safety.
According to BBC reporting, Ministry of Justice data showed 2,271 people were serving IPP sentences as of June, and 856 of them had never been released because the Parole Board thought it was not safe to do so.
Burnham told the BBC that he expected “hundreds” of foreign prisoners could be returned, and government figures cited by the BBC said there were 10,134 foreign nationals in custody as of late June, representing 12% of the prison population.
The BBC said the government would table legislation to terminate IPPs by the “end of this Parliament,” and it reported that powers to deport some foreign criminals immediately after sentencing were expected to be implemented early next year.