The head of the Prison Officers' Association has suggested a way to prevent the early release of Police Constable Andrew Harper's killers by freeing up prison cell space. Mark Fairhurst, the union's chair, stated that thousands of individuals currently held on remand—awaiting trial—could be placed under electronic tagging or granted bail.
Fairhurst expressed confidence that this approach could create enough space to block the early release of those convicted of manslaughter, including PC Harper's killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers. He noted that there are approximately 17,000 people on remand, and freeing up a few thousand through tagging or bail could be an "easy win" for the government.
Downing Street, however, has maintained that it is not possible to exempt specific offenders from the early release scheme, which aims to alleviate prison overcrowding. The government plans to release around 5,000 inmates over ten months from October, a measure that would include Cole and Bowers.
PC Harper, 28, died in 2019 after investigating a quad bike theft. His ankles became caught in a tow rope as the thieves attempted to flee, and he was dragged by the vehicle. His killers, then teenagers, were convicted of manslaughter. Henry Long, who was driving the car, is not eligible for early release.
The first officer on the scene of PC Harper's death described the potential early release as an "outrageous" act that felt like a betrayal of police officers. A petition calling for Cole and Bowers to remain imprisoned had gathered nearly 900,000 signatures.
Ministers have previously stated that attempting to create a specific exemption for the manslaughter of an emergency worker would likely face legal challenges and be unsuccessful. They have also indicated that pushing to exempt only a few individuals from the early release scheme is not feasible.