South Wales Police Federation chair Phil Walker has encouraged branch members to get in touch with their local MPs to help prevent the killers of PC Andrew Harper from gaining early release from prison.
PC Harper, of Thames Valley Police, died in the line of duty in August 2019 when he was dragged along a country road by a car after responding to an incident of quadbike theft.
Three men were in the car, including Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were each convicted of manslaughter and given 13 years in prison.
However, they could now serve only half their sentences under the proposed early release scheme in the UK Sentencing Act.
PC Andrew Harper
This proposal, designed to alleviate prison overcrowding, has been widely condemned across the UK – demonstrated by the growth of a petition to block the killers of PC Harper from any early release, which has reached over one million signatures.
Now, branch chair Phil has joined other voices in calling for local MPs to be contacted so this momentum can be built on.
Phil said: “The fact that this petition has secured more than one million signatures in just a matter of weeks sends an unmistakable message: there is deep and widespread opposition to the prospect of the killers of PC Harper being released early.
Petition
“For these individuals to serve just half of the sentences handed down to them would be completely unacceptable. It would be a profound insult to PC Harper’s family, friends and colleagues, and a deeply troubling message to the policing profession as a whole.
“We now need people to make their voices heard. With Parliament returning at the beginning of September, I am urging members of the public, the wider police family and, in particular, our Federation members to contact their local MPs and make their opposition to early release absolutely clear.
Policing figures at national level have already raised concerns about an updated Sentencing Act, including the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW).
An urgent review into the early release scheme was called by Prime Minister Andy Burnham during his early weeks in the role, establishing a list of prisoners who would be excluded from eligibility for the scheme.
As it stands, this exclusion list only covers those convicted of rape, grooming and serious child sex offences.
Phil added: “Officers like PC Harper were simply doing their job when they were killed, and their loved ones have had to live with that devastating loss ever since.
“Knowing that those responsible could potentially serve incomplete sentences would be incredibly difficult to accept, and I do not believe that is something the justice system should be asking us to accept.
Ultimate price
“Police officers put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect the public, and when one of them pays the ultimate price, their families and colleagues should be able to have confidence that the gravity of that loss will never be forgotten.”
You can find the name and contact details of your local MP by entering your postcode on the UK Parliament website: Find your MP
Federation members can share responses received from their MP with the branch via email.
Dear [MP NAME],
I am writing as your constituent to ask you to support the campaign to prevent the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers. I am deeply concerned that changes to early release under the Government’s new Sentencing Act could mean that two of the men responsible for PC Harper’s death are released from prison before they have served their full sentence.
Police officers put themselves in harm’s way every single day to keep the rest of us safe.
They run towards danger when others run away, knowing that there is always a possibility they may not make it home to their families.
Allowing those responsible for killing an officer in the line of duty to benefit from early release would send a terrible message to police officers across the country about how we value their service and sacrifice.
I believe that PC Harper’s family and colleagues deserve better. I am therefore asking you, as my MP, to urge the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary to make urgent changes to the Early Release Scheme, so that PC Andrew Harper’s killers remain behind bars for the duration of their original sentence.
I look forward to hearing from you.
[NAME]
[POSTCODE]