Fury as 'smirking lowlifes' who killed PC Andrew Harper set for early release from prison

The family of PC Andrew Harper have furiously condemned Labour's soft justice programme after it was announced two of his killers will be released early from prison.

Albert Bowes and Jessie Cole, jailed for 13 years in 2020 for Harper's manslaughter, will be eligible to walk free after serving just half of their sentences under the Government's early release scheme.

The pair, both 17 at the time and dubbed 'smirking lowlifes' by the policing union, were passengers in the car that dragged PC Harper along the road after his ankles got caught in their towrope as he bravely tried to stop them stealing a quad bike.

The police officer, who was 28, had been due to clock off and begin his honeymoon following his recent marriage to wife, Lissie, but was determined to intervene after receiving the call in the early hours of August 15 2019, near Sulhamstead in Berkshire.

The thieves tried to escape in a car driven by the third killer, Henry Long, but ensnared PC Harper, pulling him down the winding country road at speed.

PC Harper's injuries were so grave that those arriving on scene initially thought they had come across a deer carcass.

Two of the killers, who showed little remorse, are now due for release as part of Labour's attempts to ease chronic prison overcrowding, a decision met with anger by PC Harper's family, the policing community and politicians.

Debbie Adlam, PC Harper's mother, said the update from the Ministry of Justice was an 'insult beyond anything able to be put into words'.

'It makes me feel sick,' she told the Telegraph.

'Andrew's life doesn't get to come back. It feels like a slap in the face and an insult.

'People are getting a free pass for crime in this country. I like to try to be proud of my country, but this isn't something to be proud of. There's a lot going wrong.'

Aileen O'Connor, chair of Thames Valley Police Federation, representing colleagues from PC Harper's constabulary, said: 'The killers of PC Andrew Harper should be kept where they belong... behind bars.

'Police across Thames Valley - and indeed the country - will be disgusted at the prospect of these smirking lowlifes being free to roam the streets.

'These killers have never shown any remorse for their horrific and deadly actions that night.

'Andrew's wife Lissie and his whole family are serving a life sentence. The least we can expect is that his killers serve their whole sentence. However poor it already is.

'We will be taking this matter up with the Police Minister, the Home Secretary and the new Prime Minister. We will not stop. Andrew deserves nothing less.

'What message does this send about the worth of a life of a police officer? The Government and the parole board must reconsider any plans to release Andrew's killers early.

'And they must do it now - No ifs, no buts.'

Nick Timothy, the Tories' shadow justice secretary, called on Labour to 'stop the release of vile criminals like these killers'. 

He said: 'Labour said they would not reduce sentences for the most heinous crimes.

'It would be an absolute disgrace if the killers of PC Andrew Harper get out of prison early.'

And television personality Penny Lancaster, a serving police volunteer officer who is married to rocker Rod Stewart, posted on her Instagram account: 'Keep PC Andrew Harper's killers locked up'. 

Bowes and Cole are among thousands of criminals set to benefit from Labour's Sentencing Act, part of a long-term plan to reduce the prison population.

From September, it will allow violent and sexual offenders to be released after serving just half their sentence, rather than the current two-thirds.

Other offenders could be freed after serving just a third of the punishment imposed by a court if they demonstrate good behaviour while in jail.

Murderers will not be considered because they are given a mandatory life term, with a minimum number of years they must serve.

Long is not eligible for early release under the scheme, but will be able to seek parole after half his sentence.

The sentences given to Harper's killers sparked a national outcry for being too lenient at the time – and this reduction will now fuel fresh demands for Andy Burnham's new government to rethink the early release scheme. 

A campaign after sentencing led to the passing of 'Harper's Law', which introduced a mandatory life sentence for anyone convicted of killing emergency workers while committing a crime.

The officer's widow, Ms Harper, spearheaded the push to change the law, and was supported by Labour at the time. She received an MBE for her work.

Ellie Reeves, now the Attorney General, told MPs in 2022: 'It is right that emergency service workers who put themselves at risk to keep the rest of us safe are protected by the strongest shield that the criminal justice system can provide.'

An MoJ spokesman said: 'This was a horrific crime, and our deepest sympathies are with PC Andrew Harper's family and friends.

'In 2024, the country was facing a prison crisis and a total breakdown of law and order, with judges ordered to stop jailing dangerous criminals.

'This government is committed to public safety: we are building prison places at the fastest rate since the Victorian era, and taking the difficult decisions needed to lock up the most dangerous offenders.'

This week senior officers said the early release scheme would 'present a challenge to the whole of policing', with local forces having to deal with the prospect of reoffending and reassuring victims.

Chief Constable Trevor Rodenhurst, the National Police Chiefs Council lead for Regional Organised Crime Units said: 'This is significant demand potentially across England and Wales for policing, and it's policing who's at the thin end of the wedge on that.

'So we will do our very best to work as a system to keep our community safe.

'But this is another ask on policing because another part of the system isn't geared to take the demand it needs to.'

He added: 'It's a challenge, and that needs to be recognised.'

Deputy Chief Constable Wendy Gunney, NPCC lead for serious and organised crime, said any early release scheme had a 'quite significant' impact on local forces.

She said: 'I don't know what the impact is going to be, because you know it's difficult.

'But we are leaning in to make sure that we can risk-assess those individuals as best that we possibly can.'

Cabinet minister Heidi Alexander said the crime was 'horrific' but maintained the early release scheme was necessary because the justice system had been on the brink of collapse when Labour came to power in 2024.

She told BBC Breakfast: 'We were in a place in the summer of 2024 when the criminal justice system was on the verge of collapse.

'If we ran out of prison spaces, courts couldn't sentence and the police wouldn't have been able to arrest.

'And no responsible government would have allowed us to get into that situation.'