{"id":754971,"date":"2026-08-30T22:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754971\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T22:08:21","slug":"prisons-one-major-event-from-disaster-after-u-turn-on-early-release-scheme-prisons-and-probation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/754971\/","title":{"rendered":"Prisons \u2018one major event from disaster\u2019 after U-turn on early release scheme | Prisons and probation"},"content":{"rendered":"

PC Andrew Harper\u2019s killers will remain behind bars after a critical intervention by Andy Burnham<\/a>, but the move has led to warnings that overcrowded prisons will be left \u201cone major event away from disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

Announcing a U-turn on the early release scheme after weeks of intense pressure, Burnham said he understood \u201chow strongly people feel about this issue\u201d.<\/p>\n

The prime minister\u2019s intervention will prevent the early release of offenders guilty of all forms of manslaughter, as well as rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers.<\/p>\n

The decision, which affects about 1,400 prisoners, was welcomed by police, victims\u2019 groups and families, including qualified support from Harper\u2019s mother, Debbie Adlam.<\/p>\n

But critics said the change could undermine progressive prison reforms in England and Wales. They said the steps Burnham outlined to free up space would take longer to bring into force, putting the orderly management of prisons at risk.<\/p>\n

Harper was 28 when he sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire in August 2019. Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were passengers in the vehicle and both 17 at the time, were sentenced to 13 years in custody for manslaughter.<\/p>\n

Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were each jailed for 13 years over the killing of PC Harper, had been eligible for early release under the Sentencing Act until Burnham\u2019s intervention. Photograph: Thames Valley police\/PA<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC, which first reported the government U-turn on Sunday, Burnham said he had \u201cheard\u201d Harper\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard, obviously, what Andrew Harper\u2019s family were saying,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, who couldn\u2019t? Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adlam said she was glad and grateful for the change in the new law but felt \u201ca mixed bag of emotions\u201d and campaigning for the change had been traumatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand we are glad, but we\u2019ve been [put] through the mill and we are only back at where we were to start with,\u201d she told BBC Breakfast. \u201cWe\u2019re not making any headway or anything, we are just literally fighting to get back to where we were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harper\u2019s force, Thames Valley police, said the news would be \u201cwelcomed by many across policing and our communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jason Hogg, the chief constable of the force, said<\/a>: \u201cToday is not about politics. It is about remembering Andrew, recognising the profound impact his death continues to have on those who knew him, the communities he protected and those who serve in policing today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnham\u2019s 11th-hour intervention will limit the number of places that can be freed up in the prison estate, which ministers have repeatedly warned is on the brink of collapse.<\/p>\n

Before the early prison release scheme that had been due to start this week, the prime minister said spaces would be made available by deporting foreign prisoners and releasing some inmates serving indefinite sentences.<\/p>\n

But critics warned neither measure would free up sufficient space in a system that is operating at 98% capacity in England and Wales.<\/p>\n

Up to 6,000 prisoners were due to have their sentences cut short under the new law, but government figures<\/a> suggest the number will now be about 4,600. With the first batch of prisoners due to be released early in October, prison governor representatives said staff would be put under intense pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is I wanted to go even further,\u201d said Burnham. \u201cBut I\u2019ve pushed the system to the very limits of what\u2019s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said Sunday\u2019s announcement would not bring reassurance to domestic abuse victims.<\/p>\n

\u201cVictims and survivors will still be forced to take measures to protect themselves from dangerous abusers because the government and our criminal justice system cannot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sources accused the prime minister of making a \u201cpolitically easy decision\u201d and warned that multiple governments had failed to deport foreign convicts. Burnham admitted the number that could be returned was in the \u201chundreds\u201d.<\/p>\n

The prime minister\u2019s pledge to \u201cend the injustice\u201d of indefinite jail terms (IPPs) in this parliament was hailed as \u201ca day that thousands of families have spent years fighting for\u201d.<\/p>\n

But prison experts said it would be complicated, take time and would be unlikely to free up many places in the short term. IPPs were abolished more than a decade ago but still keep more than 2,000 people in England and Wales behind bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to release people on IPPs is extremely welcome, but the government must now deliver it,\u201d said Andrea Coomber, the chief executive of the Howard League, a penal reform charity.<\/p>\n

She said Sunday\u2019s announcement left the prison estate \u201cone major incident away from a disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll it will take is something like a serious riot or public disturbance and any capacity will be gone,\u201d she added. \u201cIt is just too close to the bone and the government will be left with very little room to manoeuvre.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the move threatened to undermine changes to the Sentencing Act, which were brought forward after a review led by David Gauke, a former justice secretary<\/a>, and were designed to improve rehabilitation rates as well as freeing up spaces for people coming into the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sentencing Act changes were based on deep work over a year from the independent sentencing review, the government and civil servants, with parliamentary scrutiny of the legislation,\u201d said Coomber. \u201cToday\u2019s announcement has undone some of that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pia Sinha, the chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said the government should address the number of people on remand awaiting trial, which account for 18% of those in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf prisons are full they become warehouses \u2013 you can\u2019t deliver interventions, self-harm goes up and rehabilitation goes down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gauke reforms were not a magic bullet, but they were brave and they were an investment in the future. That progress must not be lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, accused Labour<\/a> of avoiding parliamentary scrutiny of the changes. \u201cThe government must delay the scheme, bring forward emergency primary legislation and exclude the worst offenders properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PC Andrew Harper\u2019s killers will remain behind bars after a critical intervention by Andy Burnham, but the move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-754971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}