The boss of PC Andrew Harper‘s police force has taken aim at Labour’s early release of prisoners policy after it was revealed that two of the officers killed could be let out.
Jason Hogg, the chief constable of Thames Valley Police, has urged the Prime Minister to change the law and stop Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole from being let loose.
Under the scheme, the two killers could be let out halfway through their sentences – provided they don’t break any rules whilst inside.
Mr Hogg called the idea they could be let out early “wrong”, with his comments following damning criticism from PC Harper’s widow, who called it “deplorable”.
PC Harper died just 28-years-old after he had investigated the theft of a quad bike back in 2019. Bowers and Cole tried to flee the scene in a car driven by a third man, and the officer was dragged more than a mile after his ankles got caught in a tow rope.
Bowers and Cole were locked up for 13 years for manslaughter. Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, has said he will review the scheme, with the Conservatives calling for emergency laws to remove rapists and paedophiles from it.
Earlier Mrs Harper herself accused politicians of “making decisions from behind a desk that will have real and lasting consequences for victims’ families like mine”.
Mr Hogg said: “The tragedy of Andrew Harper’s death has had a lasting impact, both within Thames Valley Police and across policing and our communities nationally.
“It is a real and constant reminder of the dedication of officers and staff who respond without hesitation to protect their communities.
“Under the law that bears Andrew’s name, if his killers were convicted today, they would be receiving life sentences. For this reason, for them to be released early under the new sentencing act legislation feels wrong.
“I have written to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary to make my opinion on this clear.”