Why the UK faces a prisons crisis amid row over release of cop killers

Published 12 August 2026 · india

The killers of Police Constable Andrew Harper had been set to partake in early release scheme as prison system stands on the verge of collapse

The killers of Police Constable Andrew Harper had been set to partake in early release scheme as prison system stands on the verge of collapse. The UK’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has become embroiled in a row about an early prison release scheme to alleviate overcrowding in England and Wales, which ignited furious public outcry when it emerged that two of the killers of Police Constable (PC) Andrew Harper could benefit from the plan. Under the Sentencing Act 2026, which was passed under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, prisoners in England and Wales who are serving fixed, determinate sentences will be released as early as one-third of the way through their jail time in order to free up space. The scheme is set to begin in October this year. Prison services are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but are still centrally controlled in England and Wales. Here is what we know about the row and why England and Wales are facing a prisons crisis. What has Burnham said about prisons since taking over as prime minister? Burnham, who took over as prime minister last month after Starmer’s ousting just two years after winning a landslide election, paused the early release scheme for review following public backlash over the news that some rapists and child-grooming convicts might be freed. The family of slain PC Andrew Harper, who was killed in 2019, also protested. Harper died after being dragged by a car driven by the two killers who were escaping from a burglary. They were convicted of manslaughter. Following this review, Burnham said on August 4 that the Sentencing Act would no longer apply to those guilty of rape, serious child sex and other grooming offences. That brought the number of inmates eligible for early release to around 5,000, rather than the previously estimated 6,000. However, the exemptions do not include those convicted of manslaughter, as well as other charges. Burnham has also moved the start date for the scheme back by one month to October, and has announced extra supervision of those released and more support for victims. Adding the crime of manslaughter to the list of exclusions to prevent the release of PC Harper’s killers would result in blocking the early release of around 1,000 inmates, according to estimates published by British media.

While there have been calls to add manslaughter of an emergency worker as an exception, this is not a specific offence, and the government has said that such an amendment would not be legally feasible. Experts say the British prison system is on the verge of collapse, as it has one of the highest imprisonment rates in Western Europe, and successive governments have grappled with unpopular options to solve the emergency. Burnham has vowed to take concerns on board, but ultimately, he said he would see the policy through. “I am doing all I can,” he wrote on X. “But it is simply not possible to prevent all offenders from being released early without the prison system collapsing.” What happened to PC Andrew Harper? Twenty-eight-year-old PC Harper from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, was killed in 2019, just four weeks after getting married, as he responded to reports of a burglary. As three teenagers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire, his ankle became caught in the getaway car’s tow-rope loop, and he was dragged along a country road for more than a mile (1.8km), suffering fatal injuries. Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, two of his killers who were convicted of manslaughter, were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020. Under usual rules, they would have to serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before they could be considered for release. Under the new scheme, however, they would be eligible for release in June 2027, just halfway through their sentences. A third killer, Henry Long, was given a longer sentence, which requires his case to be seen by the Parole Board before any release can be granted. The police officer’s widow, Lissie Harper, has pleaded for Cole and Bowers to be denied early release. Chris Bushnell, a former police dog handler who was at the scene of PC Harper’s death, told media in the United Kingdom that he was “shaking” when he was informed that the officer’s killers might be eligible under the scheme. Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, told the BBC she was in “turmoil” over the conflicting reports that Cole and Bowers could be eligible for release next year. Some 900,000 people have signed a petition to prevent the killers’ early release. On Wednesday, 50 police chiefs also signed a letter urging Burnham to pursue every legal option to prevent their release.