Overview
- On Sunday Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter and death by dangerous driving, will be barred from the early‑release expansion.
- The announcement means Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, two defendants in PC Andrew Harper’s manslaughter case, will remain in custody under the revised rules.
- Government figures and reporting say the number of prisoners eligible for accelerated release has fallen to about 5,000 after earlier exemptions for rape and serious child‑sex offences and the new unlawful‑killing carve‑out.
- Ministers plan to free prison places through faster deportation of foreign nationals and reviewing or reprocessing Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) cases, with details to be set out in secondary legislation and a Justice Department review by Alex Norris.
- Campaigners and police welcomed the homicide exclusion but warned the move must be applied consistently across all homicide types and critics warned that shifting releases to IPP cohorts and others could raise public‑safety, legal and political risks.