Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper, urged the government to back the petition before adding: “Justice should mean justice and serving the sentence given”
More than 500,000 people have signed a petition demanding the Government takes action to keep PC Andrew Harper’s killers in jail.
Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following the death of Thames Valley Police officer PC Andrew Harper in 2019.
Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after ministers exempted rapists and “serious” child sex offenders as part of the scheme to tackle overcrowding in jails. Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for the Government’s scheme. PC Harper’s family have expressed anger and disappointment at the decision not to exempt Cole and Bowers from the plans as well.
Jessie Cole (left) and Albert Bowers are eligible for early release
Conservative and Labour governments have used early release schemes amid capacity pressure in British prisons. The Institute for Government said men’s prisons are operating at about 97 per cent capacity, down from the 99 per cent in the summer of 2024.
PC Harper, 28, had been called to reports of a theft near Stanford Dingley in Berkshire on August 15, 2019. He ran after the suspects in a SEAT Toledo that was towing a stolen quad bike but he became caught in a strap used to tow the vehicle.
He was dragged about one mile from where the suspects were encountered and died that night. His widow Lissie successfully campaigned for harsher sentences for the manslaughter of emergency workers on duty.
Bowers and Cole’s eligibility for the scheme drew outrage and led to the petition being launched by Aileen O’Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation.
“This decision pours salt into wounds that have never healed,” O’Connor said. “It is an insult to Andrew’s family, his friends, his colleagues and the entire policing family.
Lissie Harper has been campaigning for harsher sentences
“Time and again they have been forced to relive their grief while watching a justice system that they trusted fail to recognise the unique sacrifice made by those who serve and protect the public. Police Officers put themselves in harm’s way every day. They run towards danger when everyone else is running away. They do so knowing that they may never come home to their families.
“For the Government to exclude the killers of police officers from these protections sends a deeply troubling message about the value placed on those who make that sacrifice.”
PC Harper’s widow Lissie Harper urged the government to back the petition. She added: “Hopefully we can make the current government come to their senses and realise we cannot put people like this back on our streets. Justice should mean justice and serving the sentence given.”