Debbie Adlam, mother of PC Andrew Harper, received a phone call from Downing Street expressing hope that two of her son's killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, may be exempt from an early release scheme. The prime minister has instructed his justice secretary to find a way to exclude the pair, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, from being released halfway through their sentences next January. This development gives Adlam "hope", but she is cautious not to get her hopes up too high. The early release scheme is designed to ease prison overcrowding, and Downing Street had previously stated it would be difficult to exclude individual offenders.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
The mother of PC Andrew Harper says a phone call from Downing Street to discuss the early release scheme that could see two of her son's killers freed halfway through their sentences has given her hope.
uncertain
two → publish → hope
After speaking to a senior No 10 official, Debbie Adlam said she had been told the prime minister wanted to do "everything he can" to find a resolution to prevent the release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers this January.
asserted
he → speak → Cole
Adlam told BBC Breakfast: "For me, it's hope, but I can't afford to be too hopeful."
asserted
I → tell → me
She added she was not looking for a "special case" for her son, but wanted the killers of all emergency workers to be exempt from the early release scheme.
asserted
killers → add → scheme
Cole and Bowers were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020.
asserted
Cole → sentence → 2020
Under changes to the Sentencing Act made this year, they will become eligible for release from custody next January.
asserted
they → make → custody
They are in a category of prisoners - those who have committed certain serious violent or sexual crimes - who until now would have had to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in jail before being considered for release.
asserted
who → commit → release
Downing Street had earlier warned it would not be possible to exclude "one or two offenders" convicted of manslaughter from the early release scheme.
asserted
it → warn → scheme
However, the BBC has been told that Burnham has now instructed his justice secretary to find a way to exclude Cole and Bowers from the scheme designed to ease prison overcrowding.
asserted
Burnham → tell → overcrowding
In a later statement, the PM said he was "increasingly confident" that work to increase space in the prison system "will allow us to reduce the number of people released early".
asserted
us → say → people
He added: "And, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC [Andrew] Harper, prevent their early release altogether."
asserted
He → add → release
Adlam said the conflicting reports had been making her "more and more angry" and the uncertainty had left her family "in turmoil".
asserted
uncertainty → say → turmoil
Of the phone call she received, she said.
asserted
she → receive → call
"I think the fact it's actually come from Downing Street, I've got to try and have some faith in it, but at the same time I've got to protect my own feelings."
asserted
I → think → feelings
Thames Valley Police officer PC Harper, 28, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in 2019 when he was dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire.
Adlam said: "Everybody is watching this.
asserted
Everybody → die → this
This is obviously extremely personal to us but it's to do with the country as a whole really.
asserted
it → do → whole
This is really vital to get right, it feels like a hash, like a rush job."
asserted
it → get → job
Speaking about Cole and Bowers, she added: "They weren't given extreme sentences and I'm only asking for them to do what they were given, I'm not asking for anything more than they were sentenced."
asserted
they → speak → anything
Aileen O'Connor, chairman of Thames Valley Police Federation, said the reports that Burnham would look to exclude Cole and Bowers from the early release scheme, gave her a "little glimmer of hope".
asserted
Burnham → say → hope
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Police officers up and down this country run towards danger, they put themselves on the line every single day and Andrew Harper paid the ultimate sacrifice for the job that he loved and the badge he wore.
asserted
he → tell → that
"We need to see the government protecting us because we're getting battered all over the show every single day."
asserted
we → need → show
Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner said the government was still looking at all options around the prisons crisis and preventing the early release of PC Harper's killers.
asserted
government → say → killers
She told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday: "The trauma that PC Harper's family has been through, and other victims who are watching this crisis unfold in our prisons, is unacceptable.
"
asserted
crisis → tell → prisons
The prime minister has said that those serious offenders, like the ones that killed PC Harper, he doesn't want to see them released early and he has tasked the justice secretary to look at that and to come to parliament in September so that we can do everything we possibly can to stop that from happening."
uncertain
we → say → that
Last week, PC Harper's widow, Lissie Harper, said she "will not give up" and hoped people would share a petition calling for his killers to be denied early release from prison.
asserted
killers → say → prison
She said: "Hopefully we can make the current government come to their senses and realise we cannot put people like this back on our streets.
"
asserted
we → say → streets
Justice should mean justice and serving the sentence given."
asserted
Justice → mean → sentence
More than 900,000 people have signed the petition set up by Thames Valley Police Federation, which calls the decision for Cole and Bowers to be eligible for early release an "insult".
asserted
Cole → sign → release
