SHOCKING: Every police chief in the UK has co-signed a historic letter regarding the killers of Officer Harper—full details revealed in a brief statement
In an extraordinary and unprecedented move, every chief constable across the United Kingdom has signed a joint letter urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to use every lawful means to prevent the early release of two men convicted of killing Police Constable Andrew Harper.
PC Harper, a 28-year-old newlywed serving with Thames Valley Police, died on 15 August 2019. He was responding to a report of a stolen quad bike in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, when his feet became entangled in a tow strap trailing behind a getaway car. He was dragged for more than a mile along country roads and suffered fatal injuries. The three teenagers involved were later convicted of manslaughter. The driver, Henry Long, received a 16-year extended sentence and is not eligible for early release. The two passengers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were 17 at the time, were each sentenced to 13 years in 2020.
Under changes to the Sentencing Act introduced to ease severe prison overcrowding, Cole and Bowers are due to become eligible for automatic release after serving only half their sentences. This would allow them to leave custody as early as January. The prospect has sparked widespread anger among police officers, the Harper family and the public.
The letter, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and signed by 50 senior leaders — including the heads of all territorial forces in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the National Crime Agency and Jersey Police — is described as a historic intervention. It welcomes Burnham’s recent instruction to the Justice Secretary to examine every possible option, but presses further. The chiefs warn that releasing the killers of an officer killed in the line of duty risks undermining public safety, eroding victim confidence and damaging wider trust in the criminal justice system.
They argue that when courts impose sentences for exceptionally serious offences, subsequent policy changes that significantly shorten time served can leave victims, bereaved families and the public questioning the meaning of those sentences. The letter stresses that the concern is not limited to police families. It applies to all victims of the most serious violence. Officers, the chiefs say, will inevitably ask what message early release sends about the value placed on those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.
Harper’s Law, introduced following a determined campaign by the officer’s widow Lissie Harper, later made mandatory life sentences available for anyone who kills an emergency worker while committing a crime. Because the original convictions pre-dated the change, Cole and Bowers remain subject to the earlier regime and the new early-release rules.
Prime Minister Burnham has publicly stated he is increasingly confident that solutions can be found to free up prison capacity so that the most serious offenders, including those responsible for PC Harper’s death, are not released early. Options under consideration include faster deportation of foreign national offenders, resolution of long-running Imprisonment for Public Protection cases, and greater use of the wider prison estate. The government has already excluded rapists, serious child sex offenders and those convicted of grooming from the scheme.
The chiefs’ letter goes beyond the individual case. It calls for future release policies to give explicit weight to public protection, victim impact and community safety whenever sentences for the most serious offences are altered. They present their request in memory of PC Harper, in support of his family and colleagues, and on behalf of all victims of serious crime.
The unified stance of Britain’s entire police leadership underscores the depth of concern within the service. Whether the government can deliver a lawful solution that keeps Cole and Bowers in custody for their full terms will be closely watched when Parliament returns.
