The mother of heroic police officer PC Andrew Harper has said the early release of two men convicted over his killing would rob her son of “proper justice”.
Debbie Adlam said proposals that could see Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers freed after serving only half of their 13-year prison sentences felt like “another letdown for Andrew”.
She also issued a warning to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, saying the use of early prisoner releases to tackle severe overcrowding across Britain’s jails risked “bottling up problems for the future”, particularly amid fears offenders could go on to commit further crimes.
Mr Burnham is reviewing the early release policy, which forms part of the Sentencing Act and is scheduled to take effect on September 2, following a public backlash over the possibility that Cole and Bowers could be released. As it stands, the pair may be eligible for release in about six months.
PC Harper’s widow, Lissie Harper, yesterday condemned Labour’s approach to sentencing as “deplorable” and accused politicians of overlooking the families left behind by violent crime.
Speaking today, Mrs Adlam said: “It just feels like another letdown for Andrew, really.
“When you look at the horrific way he was killed, we have to live with that … we’ve still got to live a life.
“We’ve got to do our best to do a life as best we can for him and in his name, really.
Debbie Adlam has urged the Prime Minister not to allow her son’s killers early release from prison
PC Andrew Harper was killed as he responded to a quad bike theft in Berkshire in August 2019
‘It’s like a double life, almost, the way we actually have to go on, because there’s obviously the loss, and then there’s trying to keep a normality about life.’
PC Harper, 28, died in horrific circumstances when he was caught in a towing strap trailing from his teenage killers’ getaway car as they tried to steal a quad bike in August 2019.
He was dragged for more than a mile at ‘sickening’ speed down winding country lanes near Sulhamstead in Berkshire before, mortally wounded, he was shaken loose, their Old Bailey trial heard.
His injuries were so grave that those arriving on the scene initially thought they had come across a deer carcass.
PC Harper had been due to clock off hours earlier, but decided to respond to one final call before starting his honeymoon with childhood sweetheart Mrs Harper. The pair had been married for only four weeks when he was killed.
Cole and Bowers, who were 17 at the time and were passengers in the car, were handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter in 2020.
The sentences were reduced from 20 years due to their age and immaturity.
The judge described them as ‘unintelligent, but professional criminals’, and said they would each serve two-thirds of their sentence.
PC Harper and wife Lissie had been married just four weeks when he was killed in the line of duty
Thugs Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were jailed for 13 years for manslaughter. The judge described them as ‘unintelligent but professional criminals’
The driver, Henry Long, 18, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years. He is ineligible for early release under current Labour plans.
Asked about how the family feel about the potential release, PC Harper’s mother told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘To have this faced with us now, you know, we’ve already been through the justice system, we already felt let down, we’ve already seen reductions in their sentences for various things like being just under 18 and various things.
‘So all of these reductions really hit us hard because we were initially given a sentence of so many years, which was then reduced for various reasons.
‘So to now hear that, you know, they’re considering actually releasing them earlier still, it just makes you feel like we did when we were in court, basically, the feeling of Andrew hasn’t been given proper justice.’
She urged Mr Burnham ‘to look at the big picture for the country’.
She said: ‘Just saying we’ll release them to relieve the pressure is actually bottling up problems for the future.
‘Some will have learnt their lesson, but as we know, the reoffending rates are so high.’
The Mail understands prison officials are meeting with the Government today to discuss the scheme.
