How the early release scheme has changed – and changed againpublished at 07:33 BST
07:33 BST
Image source, PA Media
There have been various twists and turns in the government’s new prisoner release scheme for England and Wales, after it was approved by Parliament in January 2026.
Some 6,000 criminals were due to be released earlier than planned, and the scheme was due to come into force from 2 September.
But on 22 July, PC Andrew Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, called the scheme – which has seen two of her son’s killers released after half their sentences, rather than two-thirds – an “insult”.
She received a letter from the Ministry of Justice confirming the jail terms could be reduced for Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years in custody for manslaughter in 2020.
A day later on 23 July, new PM Andy Burnham announced he was pausing the scheme for review.
On 3 August, the government then announced a revision to the scheme – that prisoners who committed rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences would be excluded.
But Adlam told BBC Newsnight she was “devastated” that the change still left Cole and Bowers eligible for early release.
On 4 August, Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the government was trying to avoid running out of prison spaces. “We would like to have gone further than that, but we cannot I’m afraid,” he said.
But more change were still to come. On 30 August, Burnham told the BBC that PC Harper’s killers would remain behind bars for two-thirds of their sentence, as initially planned.
He said anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, would be excluded from the scheme.
Media caption,
PM confirms PC Harper’s killers will remain in prison