Overview
- On Tuesday the prime minister asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to draw up options to prevent Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from being freed early under the Sentencing Act’s emergency release measures.
- Cole and Bowers were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 and are currently eligible for release at the halfway point of their 13‑year sentences under the changes that will affect about 5,000 prisoners.
- Officials say carving out individual cases is legally risky because manslaughter of an emergency worker is not a standalone offence and a narrow exemption would likely trigger court challenges or force wider manslaughter exclusions.
- Ministers have ordered fast‑tracked operational measures to create prison ‘headroom’—including speeding deportations, reviewing indeterminate cases, easing remand pressure through tagging or bail, and repurposing some cells—to reduce the number released early.
- Police groups, the Harper family and large public petitions topping 800,000–900,000 signatures have pressed for action and ministers say Parliament will be presented with detailed proposals when it returns in September.