Harper's Mother, Debbie Adlam, Said Her Family Was "Paying the Price" After Learning Her Son's Killers Remained Eligible for Early Release

About 1,000 fewer prisoners will be released early after Andy Burnham's intervention to exclude those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the scheme. Justice secretary Alex Norris said 5,000 prisoners would be released over 10 months from October in England and Wales, down from the government's original plan for 6,000 from September. Norris told Sky News he would have liked to go further in blocking early release, but doing so would have caused the prison system to "break down.

He added that the government would not need further emergency release schemes as sentencing changes would provide "long-term security" for prison capacity. He acknowledged the proposals had "created harm" for grieving families such as the wife of PC Andrew Harper, Lissie, and expressed anger at having to make significant changes that impact people's lives. Harper's mother, Debbie Adlam, said her family was "paying the price" after learning her son's killers remained eligible for early release.

Some prisoners serving time for certain sexual or violent offences will still be eligible for release at the halfway point of their sentence if they have not committed serious breaches of prison rules. This applies to Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, two of Harper's killers, jailed for 13 years in 2020 for manslaughter. Henry Long, the main perpetrator, will not be subject to early release.

Harper, a 28-year-old police officer, sustained fatal injuries while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019. Adlam told BBC Newsnight: "It feels like we're letting Andrew down again. She accepted Norris was sorry but felt the decision had been made "very quickly, adding: "There surely has to be other answers. Burnham wrote in the Telegraph that the scheme had roots in previous governments' "failure to add sufficient new places between 2010 and 2024, when just 500 places were added and 23 prisons closed.

He said he understood the "anger and anxiety" felt by victims' families, which had informed his "significant changes. The prime minister assured the public that offenders will face tighter community supervision, including new GPS monitoring for rapists, and promised a new package of support for victims backed by £10m in new funding.