Editorial: Government must end immoral prison scheme setting police killers free early

The government’s refusal to listen to the public and stop the early release of Pc Andrew Harper’s killers highlights the indefensible position Labour ministers have put themselves in over an immoral policy.

The young constable was just 28 when he was killed responding to a quad bike theft in Berkshire, in August 2019. He got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.

The driver, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for release under the government’s plans to free up jail spaces. However, his accomplices Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers would be.

Aileen O'Connor, the chair of Thames Valley Police Federation, says the failure of the government to block the early release of the pair cannot stand. Close to one million people have called on the Prime Minister to do just that.

The pair would be among 5,000 criminals set free early as part of an attempt to deal with overcrowding in jails in England and Wales. It is understandable that the government is refusing to buckle at this stage – lest the entire plan fall apart.

However, few will be more concerned that criminals such as these are living in overcrowded conditions, than they are about the appalling injustice of this situation. Pc Harper’s family have suffered enough, and do not need to be put through this battle to ensure that his killers serve the sentence they were handed down.

Many police families in Northern Ireland will feel their pain acutely, having watched killers walk free early. Many more whose loved ones’ killers faced paltry sentences, will also look on in horror.

The government should have already built more prisons to ensure justice is fully served – but in the meantime, they must cancel this immoral scheme.