The grieving mother of PC Andrew Harper has said she would be ‘absolutely furious’ if Andy Burnham reneges on his pledge to block the early release of his killers.
In an emotional interview, Debbie Adlam said she is ‘absolutely drained’ by the conflicting messages coming from Downing Street about whether Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers can be kept behind bars.
Saying the country ‘expects justice’, she told the Daily Mail’s Trial podcast about the ‘toll’ taken on her family by the Government’s flip-flopping – but that she now had renewed hope that they would not be freed in January.
It comes after an unprecedented intervention in which 50 police leaders – representing every force in the UK – united to condemn Labour's soft justice reforms, calling on the Prime Minister to scrap plans to release thousands of dangerous prisoners.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Burnham said he was ‘increasingly confident’ that a ‘more focused approach’ would cut down the number freed, ‘and, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC Harper, prevent their early release altogether’.
Asked how she would feel if the PM u-turned again, Ms Adlam said: ‘This would have been all for nothing, I would just be absolutely furious because Andrew's life was ended in such a horrific way.
‘The country expects justice and it just seems like we're being pushed off a cliff right now.
‘I really don't know how I would get by if that was to happen.’
Every police chief in the country has urged Andy Burnham to prevent the early release of the men who killed PC Andrew Harper, pictured with his wife Lissie
Debbie Adlam has urged the Prime Minister not to allow her son's killers early release from prison
She believes one option is emergency legislation making criminals serving time for killing emergency workers ineligible for early release.
Her 28-year-old newlywed son was killed in the line of duty in 2019 when he was dragged behind a car for more than a mile as he tried to stop three teenagers from stealing a quad bike in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
His widow, Lissie, fought for Harper's Law – a mandatory life sentence for anyone who kills an emergency worker in the line of duty following outrage over the sentencing of his killers.
Cole and Bowers, who were 17-year-old passengers in the getaway car at the time, were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020.
The two thugs are among a wave of killers, rapists and violent criminals set to go free from September under Labour's soft justice prisoner release scheme.
The driver, Henry Long, was handed an extended sentence of 16 years for manslaughter and so is not eligible for early release.
Labour want to release about 5,000 serious criminals – including killers and wife-beaters – over a ten-month period under its early release scheme as part of efforts to tackle overcrowding in jails.
However amid a mounting backlash, ministers are considering an extraordinary plan to empty women's jails to free up cell space for male inmates.
Also on the table are proposals to deport more foreign criminals and release inmates given open-ended sentences long ago.
Yesterday the National Police Chiefs Council released an extraordinary joint letter from the heads of 48 UK police forces, the National Crime Agency and Jersey Police, condemning the plans, warning it 'risks undermining public safety, victim confidence and wider confidence in the criminal justice system'.
Andy Burnham has been warned he's 'prolonging the torture' of victims and their families by dithering over Labour's early release of prisoners
PC Andrew Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer, was killed in August 2019 when responding to a quad bike theft in Berkshire
Thugs Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were jailed for 13 years for manslaughter. The judge described them as 'unintelligent but professional criminals'
The signatories want Mr Burnham to explore 'every lawful option' to stop PC Harper's killers being freed, suggesting the Government's plans to early release offenders are a betrayal of a law brought in his memory.
Mr Burnham has ordered Justice Secretary Alex Norris to 'fast-track' a plan for when Parliament returns next month, overriding the Ministry of Justice's claims that nothing more could be done.
Describing the emotional rollercoaster caused by Government’s changing stance, Mrs Adlam told the Daily Mail: ‘There was hope and there wasn't hope, and there was hope and there wasn't hope.
‘And each time it takes a toll on how much you can cope with and how much it messes with your emotions and your strength.
‘I'm absolutely drained because it's starting to catch up with me a little bit now.
‘We've had a few days of this but now I think there's looking like there's hope.’
She suggested the Government might need to put emergency legislation in place, so those serving time for killing emergency workers could be exempt from early release.
‘It’s something that really needs looking into,’ she said.
‘I know it's not a simple matter, but I think it's a really important matter for emergency service workers because we're at risk of some very deep troubles here if it doesn't happen.’
She said the overwhelming public support for keeping the pair inside was evidenced by the fact that almost a million people had signed the petition in just over a week.
Asked if she felt let down and ‘kicked in the guts’ by the system, she said: ‘All of that and more.’
She said she was driven to fight to keep them in prison to achieve the ‘best outcome’ for her son who ‘loved his job.’
‘Andrew would not have been killed had he not put himself in that role doing his duty,’ she added.
‘He should have been at home, [it was] 12 hours after his shift, but he was still on duty and then it ended up in his death, unfortunately.
‘And I think people need to realise that sometimes. I can only stand up for that.
‘That's the drive. It's because I’m his mum and I've got so much passion, I suppose, about my feelings.
‘And for everybody else, I need to stand up for those that don't have the opportunity.
‘I am absolutely exhausted, but I can't stop until it's done.’