Government confirms killers excluded from early release as prison space plan unveiled
The government has confirmed that anyone convicted of unlawful killing will be excluded from early release, while unveiling plans to create more prison space.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The government has confirmed that anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, will be excluded from the early release scheme designed to ease prison overcrowding. The move follows weeks of public and political backlash, triggered in part by the potential release of two of PC Andrew Harper's killers.
PC Harper was killed in 2019 while responding to a burglary. Two of the men convicted of his manslaughter, Jesse Cole and Albert Bowers, had been due for early release under the scheme. Their case became a lightning rod for wider anger over the policy, with a petition against their release attracting nearly one million signatures and more than 50 police chiefs writing to the Prime Minister.
The Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales warned that the early release of thousands of prisoners could lead to serious reoffending, including sexual or violent offences, or even murder, because probation staff were already overwhelmed. One probation officer who spoke to the BBC described the situation as "pure panic" and warned that missed plans could lead to "death under supervision."
The government initially argued that it could not exclude manslaughter cases without risking the collapse of the prison system. But over the weekend, the Prime Minister announced a U-turn, confirming that anyone convicted of unlawful killing would be excluded. The number of prisoners due for early release has now fallen from around 6,000 to 4,500.
To make up the shortfall in prison capacity, the government has announced £110 million of funding to convert unused spaces within prisons, such as laundry rooms and offices, into cells. It has also pledged to end indefinite sentences known as IPPs (Imprisonment for Public Protection), which were scrapped in 2012 but still affect more than 2,000 prisoners, over 850 of whom have never been released.
The Justice Secretary, Alex Norris, is expected to set out the full details of the revised scheme in Parliament. The government says it is also investing £700 million in probation services and will introduce GPS tagging and "restriction zones" for released offenders.
However, concerns remain. Domestic abusers are still eligible for early release, and victims' groups have warned that the probation service is too understaffed to monitor offenders effectively. The male prison estate is running at around 98% capacity, with fewer than 1,700 spaces left.
The Conservatives have criticised the government's approach, arguing that freeing IPP prisoners would simply release one group of dangerous criminals to make room for another. But ministers insist they inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse and are taking the necessary steps to keep the most serious offenders behind bars.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Bowers and Jesse Cole, convicted of manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper, were eligible for early release under the government's prison overcrowding scheme. | ||||||||
| Rapists will be banned from early prison release under a new scheme. | · | |||||||
| Andy Burnham blocked early release for people convicted of unlawful killing, including manslaughter. | · | · | ||||||
| Prime Minister said the early prisoner release scheme could be reviewed after concerns from PC Harper's family. | · | · | ||||||
| The Prime Minister expressed confidence that prison capacity work will allow a reduction in early release, including for the killers of PC Andrew Harper. | · | · | ||||||
| The chief inspector of probation warned that early release could lead to serious sexual or violent offences or murder. | · | · | · | |||||
| The early release scheme has been delayed to October and the number of eligible prisoners reduced to about 4,500. | · | · | · | |||||
| The Prime Minister asked the Justice Secretary to find a way to keep the killers in jail. | · | · | · | |||||
| Thirty families signed a letter to the Justice Secretary demanding all manslaughter convictions be excluded from the early release scheme. | · | · | · | |||||
| PC Harper's mother called the potential early release an insult. | · | · | · | · | ||||
| Police chiefs sent a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging him to block the early release of PC Harper's killers. | · | · | · | · | ||||
| The early release scheme will release 5,000 prisoners from October, down from the originally planned 6,000, after being delayed from September. | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Focused heavily on the Chief Inspector of Probation's warning about the risks of early release, including the potential for serious reoffending or murder. Also covered the police chiefs' letter, the probation officer whistleblower, and the government's defence of the scheme.
- “I'm not fully confident that the probation service will be able to cope with this massive workload and there's a risk that things will go wrong.”
- “5,000 offenders will be released from October. Ministers say if they're not, prisons could become full.”
Covered the police chiefs' letter to the Prime Minister and the New Forest wildfire in the same bulletin. Later focused on the families' letter calling for all forms of manslaughter to be excluded from the early release scheme.
- “Fifty police chiefs have written to the Prime Minister calling for a rethink of plans to release some offenders early to make room in overcrowded prisons.”
Led with the Chief Inspector of Probation's warning, then provided political analysis from Westminster, covering the police chiefs' letter, the Prime Minister's confidence about keeping PC Harper's killers in prison, and the IPP sentence issue.
- “The government's early release scheme for prisoners could lead to a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder. That's according to a warning from the chief inspector of probation for England and Wales.”
- “The prime minister's been very clear. He's desperate to try and make sure, and he's increasingly confident those two places will be found and that those exemptions will be made.”
Provided detailed coverage of the police chiefs' letter, interviewed a prison reformer about the chaos of the scheme, and later covered probation whistleblowers and the restriction zones policy. Also interviewed the President of the Police Superintendents Association.
- “Overnight, 50 police chiefs from across the UK and Northern Ireland signed a letter warning Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, that if two of the men convicted of killing PC Andrew Harper are released early, it could undermine police morale and public trust in the whole justice system.”
- “Chaotic, I think is the best way to describe it. There's a lot of uncertainty. Uncertainty breeds anxiety, and anxiety can lead people in prison, people leaving prison to do irrational things.”
Focused on the political debate around the early release scheme, interviewing former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland about blame for prison overcrowding and the government's handling of the policy.
- “The government has shifted position on which categories of prisoners will and won't be included.”
- “No, this is a long term generational issue. I can remember prison overcrowding issues and police cells being used back in the noughties when Labour were last in power.”
Covered the restriction zones policy in detail, the families' letter on manslaughter exclusion, the IPP sentence issue, the government's £110 million prison space plan, and domestic abuse victims' concerns about early release.
- “Serious violent and sexual offenders may be confined to areas just a few miles wide after being released from prison as part of a plan aimed, the government says, to give victims more freedom.”
- “Release does not mean freedom here. What it means is that everyone who is released from prison will be under presumption for a GPS monitoring tag.”
Focused on the families' letter demanding manslaughter exclusion, domestic abuse victims' fears about early release, and the political implications for the Prime Minister as Parliament returned.
- “More than 30 bereaved families are demanding that anyone convicted of manslaughter be banned from the government's early prison release initiative.”
- “It's hard enough getting a conviction and then it's hard enough going through that whole process and you release them anyway for them to just come and re-offend anyway.”
Interviewed Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber killed in the Nottingham attacks, focusing on the families' campaign against manslaughter early release and the emotional impact on victims' families.
- “Over 30 families have called on the government to stop killers convicted of any form of manslaughter from being released early to ease the prison overcrowding crisis in England and in Wales.”
- “If somebody has been killed, they have been killed, a life has been lost and there has been a perpetrator, whether that's voluntary manslaughter or murder, it's actually irrelevant.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.