50 UK police chiefs urge PM to block early release of Pc Harper's killers
Fifty police leaders signed the letter to Andy Burnham
Policing leaders from across the UK have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to use "every lawful option" to prevent the early release of Pc Andrew Harper's killers.
A letter signed by 50 police chiefs and other law enforcement leaders, including Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, Greater Manchester Chief Constable Stephen Watson and National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar, called for an "additional public protection safeguard" for the most serious offenders in future early release schemes.
The letter said families and victims "must be properly considered whenever significant changes are made to sentencing or release arrangements".
The letter said: "When the state asks people to run towards danger on behalf of the public, they should be able to trust that the justice system will stand behind them when the worst happens."
It said: "Pc Andrew Harper's case also raises a wider question. When someone is sentenced for an exceptionally serious offence, how much confidence can victims, bereaved families and the public place in that sentence if subsequent changes to release arrangements result in an offender being released significantly earlier than originally anticipated?"
The signatories, who lead forces across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, said: "Officers and staff understand that the law must be applied as it stands. But they will question what message this sends about the value placed on their service and sacrifice when they put themselves in harm's way to protect others."
They added: "We are also collectively concerned that an approach to early release which does not sufficiently distinguish the most serious offending risks undermining public safety, victim confidence and wider confidence in the criminal justice system."
Mr Burnham has said he is "increasingly confident" Pc Harper's killers will not be released early, and that ways can be found to free up prison space for serious offenders elsewhere.
He said: "I don't want to see a single prisoner released early," adding that he has been "pressing every single day to go further" on limiting the number of inmates freed under measures to ease prison overcrowding.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris has been asked to fast-track proposals to create more space in the prison system, including deporting more foreign offenders and reviewing indeterminate sentences.
Pc Harper died after becoming caught in a strap attached to a car and being dragged along a country road as thieves fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.
Two of his three killers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, are due to be released next year, halfway through their 13-year sentences, having been convicted of manslaughter in 2020.