Thames Valley Police chief constable Jason Hogg says he will consider joining legal action to block the early release of two of PC Andrew Harper's killers. He told the BBC he is in talks with the Police Federation of England and Wales about the issue, and said public opinion on their possible release was "overwhelming".
PC Harper, who served with Thames Valley, died in 2019 after being dragged by a car down a country road as three teenagers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire. The two passengers in the car, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, were sentenced in 2020 to 13 years for manslaughter and could apply for early release after serving half of their sentences.
The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and is not eligible for early release.
Speaking on the Today programme, Hogg urged the government to reconsider its position. Only prisoners convicted of murder, rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences will be excluded from the scheme in England and Wales, while those convicted of manslaughter remain eligible.
He said:
"I fully understand the challenges around the crisis in the prison system,"
He added:
"But the decision made and where that line has been drawn, I do not believe that people responsible for taking the life of another citizen in our country should be released early."
On Wednesday, he said:
"I was informed yesterday that the Police Federation are considering legal action, I am in discussions with the Police Federation with regards to this matter".
Asked whether that meant he would join them, he said:
"I think we need to get some legal advice in relation to this. This is something I certainly would consider."
After campaigning by PC Harper's wife Lissie following his death, Parliament passed "Harper's Law", which gives mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency services workers. It doubles the maximum penalty from 12 months to two years for those who assault police or other emergency workers.
However, the new rules, introduced in 2022, did not apply in the sentencing of the police officer's killers and so do not prevent them from being released early.
Hogg said:
"The law isn't retrospective and we all understand that, but the fact that they are released early simply seems perverse."
Aileen O'Connor, branch chair of Thames Valley Police Federation, also told the BBC her organisation was considering legal action.
She said:
"We are in talks this morning, I'll get an update this afternoon whether that is an avenue that we can explore and if it is an avenue we can explore then I'll get behind that 110%."
Asked what form a potential legal challenge might take, she said:
"Ultimately that's for the specialists, the barristers and those in that legal sector to make that decision whether there is a challenge there.
"If there is a challenge then we will look to take that challenge."
Sentencing Minister Jake Richards told the BBC it would be wrong to single out individual cases and block two of PC Harper's killers from early release.
Although the government had reviewed which sentences would be excluded from the early release scheme, he confirmed
"manslaughter is not one of those offences".
Richards said:
"It would be wrong to pick out individual cases within different offending cohorts. That wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be lawful either. So it is correct that those two individuals will be subject to the new regime from October".
Any legal challenge would have to be heard in the High Court, where ministerial decisions are reviewed. Judges would have to be convinced that the government's choice of who gets out and who remains inside was either totally unlawful because ministers did not have the power to decide, or so irrational that it failed a legal test for reasonable decision-making.
Judges do not rule against a minister simply because they disagree with the decision; there must be a clear legal flaw in how the decision was made.
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Alex Norris warned that a prison capacity crisis would be likely if fewer prisoners were allowed early release.
Norris apologised to families who would be affected by the early release scheme and said the government wanted to go further
"but we cannot".
"We have to make this decision, we've been able to make some changes to it, but we have to have the rest of the sentencing act changes otherwise we run out of prison places in November and that can't happen,"he said.
The justice secretary said 5,000 extra releases will take place in 10 batches from October.
He clarified that approximately 1,000 prisoners will now not be released early following the revision to the scheme.
The government also announced an extra £10m will go to front-line victim support services, including a new national helpline.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice released a new list of exclusions that will be exempt from the early release scheme.
It said rapists, as well as criminals sentenced for child sex offences and grooming and conspiracy offences for these crimes, will no longer be eligible to leave prison early.
Murderers and terrorists were already not eligible for the early release scheme.
Will the Police Federation take legal action?
The Police Federation of England and Wales is considering whether to launch a challenge, and Thames Valley Police Federation has said it would support such a move if legal specialists believe there is a case.
Why could the two killers be released early?
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced in 2020 to 13 years for manslaughter, and manslaughter remains eligible under the revised early release scheme in England and Wales. That means they could apply for release after serving half of their sentences.
What is Harper's Law?
Harper's Law, passed by Parliament after campaigning by PC Harper's wife Lissie, gives mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency services workers and doubles the maximum penalty for assaulting police or other emergency workers from 12 months to two years. The law, introduced in 2022, is not retrospective and did not apply to the sentencing of Harper's killers.
What happens next?
Any challenge would be heard in the High Court, where judges would assess whether the government's decision was unlawful or irrational. If no challenge is brought, the new regime will apply from October.
Key Facts
- PC Andrew Harper died in 2019 after being dragged by a car in Berkshire.
- Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced in 2020 to 13 years for manslaughter.
- The driver, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and is not eligible for early release.
- The government says 5,000 extra releases will take place in 10 batches from October.
- About 1,000 prisoners will no longer be released early under the revised scheme.
Additional reporting by home and legal correspondent Dominic Casciani
