Watchdogs and Pressure Groups Warned the Decision Puts Women and Girls at Risk and Lets Down Serving Police Officers

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced Tuesday that rapists, child sexual abusers and groomers will be excluded from early prison release plans, while delaying the release of thousands of inmates across England and Wales by a month until October. The move, aimed at easing critical prison overcrowding, still allows domestic abusers and killers to go free, including two men jailed for their role in PC Andrew Harper's death. Watchdogs and pressure groups warned the decision puts women and girls at risk and lets down serving police officers.

The intervention follows the suspension of Keir Starmer's plan to release up to 6,000 offenders in September amid predictions prisons would be full by November. Burnham said he understood the anger and distress caused and ordered an urgent review, adding that offenders sentenced for rape, serious child sex offences and grooming will be excluded. The Ministry of Justice declined to release numbers affected or predict when prisons will be full again.

Domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs called the exclusion of partner abusers "wrong" and said it puts victims' lives at risk, noting perpetrators are fixated on their victims. London victims' commissioner Andrea Simon said the failure is concerning given a shortage of experienced probation officers. The 2024 early release scheme included protections for domestic abuse victims.

Debbie Adlam, mother of PC Andrew Harper, called the inclusion of her son's killers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers another letdown. Prisoners serving four years or more would be eligible for release at the halfway point instead of two-thirds, phased in from shorter sentences to those jailed 12 years or more by June next year. Bowers and Cole, jailed for 13 years in 2020 for manslaughter, qualify, while main perpetrator Henry Long does not. Police Federation chair Tiff Lynch said releasing those who take an officer's life earlier gravely risks public safety and confidence, causing distress to bereaved families.