PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain behind bars for longer after the government announced a major change to its controversial early release plans, following months of pressure from the officer’s family, former colleagues and campaigners.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed that people convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, will be excluded from the new early release scheme.

The decision means the two men convicted of manslaughter over the death of PC Harper will not have their sentences shortened under the plans.

The government had previously faced intense criticism over proposals that could have made some offenders convicted of serious crimes eligible for earlier release as ministers attempted to ease severe overcrowding across the prison estate.

The change came after Burnham said he had listened to the concerns surrounding the possible early release of PC Harper’s killers.

“We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving,” the prime minister said.

“This means that the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened.”

The announcement represents a significant development for Harper’s family, who have spent months campaigning against any reduction in the time his killers would spend behind bars.

Harper was only 28 when he died in August 2019 while responding to a report of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.

The young police officer was dragged behind a vehicle during the incident and sustained fatal injuries.

Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were both 17 at the time and were passengers in the vehicle, were eventually convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years in custody.

Their convictions and sentences followed a case that shocked the country and prompted widespread tributes to Harper, a serving police officer who was killed while carrying out his duties.

Under the proposed early release arrangements, however, concerns had emerged that the men could eventually become eligible to leave prison sooner than expected.

That possibility triggered renewed anger among Harper’s loved ones.

For his family, the issue was not simply about prison policy.

It was about whether the men responsible for his death should be allowed to benefit from a system designed to address overcrowding.

The government had repeatedly warned that prisons were approaching a critical point, with ministers saying that a shortage of available cells could eventually make it difficult to hold newly arrested suspects.

The prison estate in England and Wales was already more than 97% full, placing enormous pressure on the government to find additional capacity.

Ministers had therefore proposed an early release scheme intended to reduce the number of prisoners occupying cells.

But the proposals generated fierce opposition when it became clear that some people convicted of serious offences could potentially qualify.

Burnham had previously ordered a review of plans to release thousands of prisoners earlier than expected, including people convicted of violent and sexual offences.

The government has now attempted to draw a clearer line around some of the most serious crimes.

Under the revised approach, offenders serving sentences for unlawful killing, including manslaughter, will be excluded.

That change directly affects Harper’s killers.

Speaking to the BBC, Burnham acknowledged the strength of the reaction from Harper’s family.

“I heard, obviously, what Andrew Harper’s family were saying, I mean, who couldn’t?” he said.

“Nobody would want a position to arise where those guilty of killing a police officer are let out early from prison.”

For Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, the announcement was welcomed — but it did not erase the emotional toll of the campaign.

She said she was “glad and grateful” for the change, while describing her feelings as a “mixed bag of emotions.”

The campaign had been traumatic for the family, she said.

“On the one hand we are glad, but we’ve been [put] through the mill and we are only back at where we were to start with,” Adlam told BBC Breakfast.

Her comments reflected the frustration of a family that had already experienced the devastating loss of a son and then found itself having to campaign to protect the sentence imposed on his killers.

She also expressed concern about other victims and families who could face similar uncertainty over whether offenders convicted of serious crimes might be released early.

Adlam warned that the wider prison system still had significant weaknesses that needed to be addressed.

“I think, realistically, the overall system has left some huge gaps still,” she said.

She added that she hoped Burnham’s promise of a further overhaul would lead to meaningful changes over the coming years.

The government now faces the difficult task of balancing public safety and victims’ concerns against the immediate crisis of prison overcrowding.

Burnham admitted that excluding more offenders from the early release scheme would mean “hundreds” of additional prisoners remaining behind bars.

That, in turn, means the government must find additional capacity within a prison system already operating close to its limits.

“The truth is I wanted to go even further,” Burnham said.

“But I’ve pushed the system to the very limits of what’s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk.”

As part of the wider changes, the prime minister also announced what he described as the toughest supervision measures for offenders.

The government plans to introduce measures designed to ensure that a person’s sentence does not effectively end the moment they walk out of prison.

Those measures will include electronic tagging and, for the first time, restriction zones designed to prevent offenders from going near their victims.

The proposals are intended to provide greater protection for victims while allowing the government to manage pressure on prison capacity.

Burnham also announced plans to address another longstanding issue within the criminal justice system: imprisonment for public protection, or IPP, sentences.

IPP sentences were abolished more than a decade ago, but thousands of people who were given them remain in prison.

According to Ministry of Justice figures, 2,271 people were serving IPP sentences as of June.

Of those, 856 had not been released because the Parole Board had determined that it was not safe for them to return to the community.

The sentences were introduced between 2005 and 2012 for offenders considered to pose a significant risk to the public.

Although the system was later abolished, those already serving IPP sentences have continued to face the consequences.

Campaigners have argued for years that the remaining sentences should be brought to an end, particularly where prisoners have already served longer than the minimum period originally required.

Burnham said he had “longstanding concerns” about the system and believed a more practical approach was needed.

“I was faced with a situation where people on those sentences, who have more than served their time, [are] not being released when others who’ve committed very serious crimes [are] being released early,” he told the BBC.

“The judgment I’ve made is the public, in my view, would prefer a situation where people who have served their time to be considered for release before those who haven’t.”

However, the decision does not mean every person serving an IPP sentence will automatically be released.

Burnham acknowledged that some of those prisoners could continue to pose a danger to the public.

He said a cross-party oversight group would therefore be established to monitor the process.

The government intends to introduce legislation to terminate the remaining IPP sentences by the end of the current parliament.

The changes illustrate the difficult choices confronting ministers as they attempt to reform a prison system under severe pressure.

For Harper’s family, however, the immediate issue is much more personal.

The two men convicted of his manslaughter will not benefit from the early release provisions that had caused such alarm.

After months of campaigning, Adlam and her family have secured the change they were seeking.

Yet her comments also made clear that the experience has come at an emotional cost.

The family has had to repeatedly revisit the circumstances of Harper’s death and publicly argue that the punishment imposed on his killers should not be reduced.

For a mother who lost her son while he was serving his country as a police officer, the debate over prison capacity was never simply a matter of statistics.

It was about justice, accountability and the meaning of the sentence handed down after Harper’s death.

The government’s decision now means that the men convicted of killing PC Andrew Harper will remain behind bars under their existing sentences rather than receiving an early release through the revised scheme.

But the wider prison crisis remains unresolved.

Hundreds more prisoners will remain in custody as a result of the changes, while ministers continue searching for enough space to prevent the prison system from reaching breaking point.

At the same time, the government has promised stronger supervision for offenders released into the community and a new approach to the thousands of people still affected by IPP sentences.

For Harper’s family, the announcement provides a measure of relief after months of uncertainty.

But as Adlam herself warned, the campaign has exposed what she believes are much larger problems within the criminal justice system.

And while the government has now drawn a line around manslaughter and other forms of unlawful killing, the pressure to reform Britain’s overcrowded prisons — without putting victims and the public at greater risk — is far from over.