MP urges people to sign petition against early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers

Kit Malthouse MP has urged people to sign a petition calling for PC Andrew Harper’s killers to be excluded from the Government’s early release scheme.

 PC Andrew Harper was killed near Sulhamstead, on the edge of the constituency, in 2019. 

 He had gone to work that night to protect the public and was dragged to his death behind a getaway car.

 A petition launched by Aileen O’Connor, chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, calling for Andrew’s killers to be excluded from early release has now passed half a million signatures. 

 Kit said:

“I am appalled, and I know I’m not alone.

“PC Andrew Harper was killed in my first weeks as Policing Minister. He went to work that night to protect the public and was dragged to his death behind a getaway car. It was a shocking reminder of the dangers police officers face, and the worry their families carry every single day.

“In government, we brought in Harper’s Law precisely so that those who kill police and emergency workers face mandatory life sentences. The whole point was that killing an officer in the line of duty should be treated with the utmost seriousness.

“So it is a bitter thing to watch two of the men responsible for Andrew’s death now placed in line for early release. After the initial public outcry, the Prime Minister paused the plans and ordered a review. This week he approved the scheme anyway. Ministers found room to exclude several categories of serious offender, yet chose not to exclude those who kill police officers.

“I will press the Justice Secretary directly, raise this in the Commons when it returns, and table written questions to establish how the decision was reached and whether it can still be reversed. I will stand with Andrew’s family and with the Police Federation, who have led this fight with real dignity. 

“There is also something local people can do. More than half a million people have signed the petition calling for Andrew’s killers to be excluded from early release, and Andrew’s widow Lissie has asked people to sign and share it.

“Pressure on this scale is exactly what makes a government think again. I would encourage people to sign it and pass it on to others.” 

The petition can be signed here:
https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-stop-the-early-release-from-jail-of-pc-andrew-harper-s-killers