Burnham pauses early prison release scheme after fury over PC Harper’s killers
- Prime minister Andy Burnham has announced a pause on the early release scheme for prisoners, which was scheduled to commence in September, following significant public backlash.
- This decision was made to allow for an urgent review of the policy and to ensure all possible measures are taken to minimise risk to the public before any prisoners are released under the scheme.
- The pause follows strong criticism, including from the widow of police officer Andrew Harper, who found it ‘deplorable’ that two of his killers were being considered for early release.
- Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for the manslaughter of Pc Harper, could have been eligible for release after serving half their sentences under the proposed changes.
- The new Sentencing Act, due to be implemented in September, was projected to allow approximately 6,000 criminals to be released from prison earlier than their original terms.
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