Branch chair encourages MP contact to back up PC Andrew Harper petition

21 August 2026

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Lisa Flanagan has urged branch members to contact their local MP to help block those responsible for the death of PC Andrew Harper from gaining early release from prison.

PC Harper lost his life on duty for Thames Valley Police in August 2019 when he was fatally dragged along a country road by a car after attending an incident of quadbike theft.

Two of the three men in the car, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, were each sentenced to 13 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.

But the pair could now be eligible to serve only half of that time following the introduction of an early release scheme to the UK Sentencing Act, designed to alleviate prison overcrowding.

 

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Lisa Flanagan.

 

This development has been met with widespread public opposition, with over one million signatures now committed to a petition demanding these prisoners serve their full sentences.

In an effort to back this petition up, branch chair Lisa is calling for both police personnel and members of the public to express the strength of this feeling to their local MPs.

Lisa said: “It has been encouraging to see so many people, both inside and outside of policing, come together so quickly and sign this petition, in what has proved a real statement of intent around our collective attitude to the possibility of early release for these individuals.

“If it wasn’t already, it should now be clear that there are many of us who will never support or agree with this potential decision.

PC Andrew Harper

“For the killers of PC Harper to even be in contention for early release from prison is simply unacceptable, and it can never be allowed to happen.

“With momentum on our side, it is important we keep making our voices heard, and an effective way to do this is by contacting your local MP.

“A polite but firm message to your MP is something that has to be taken onboard ahead of the return of Parliament in September, where we can hopefully begin to see changes and preventions put in place around the early release scheme.”

Concerns over an updated Sentencing Act have been shared by policing officials across the country, including at national level by the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW).

Early release scheme

In his opening weeks in the position, Prime Minister Andy Burnham conducted an urgent review into the proposal for an early release scheme, which concluded that prisoners convicted of rape, grooming and serious child sex offences would be excluded from eligibility.

Lisa reiterated her disappointment in this outcome, adding: “As a Federation, we have made clear that while we agree with the exclusion of these high risk-offenders, this barred list should have been extended to those responsible for the deaths of police officers.

“PC Harper was one of many decent, dedicated people in our profession who simply went to work one day and never came home. For his family and friends, that grief never goes away, and they must live with that permanently.

“When something as tragic as this happens, the least an officer’s loved ones deserve is the full backing of the justice system.

Police family

“And as a police family, we should expect this too, and we are prepared to make our feelings known if we feel this is being fallen short of.”

You can find the name and contact details of your local MP by entering your postcode on the UK Parliament website: Find your MP

Please see below a template of the letter you could send to your local MP.

Federation members can share responses received from their MP with the branch via email.

Letter template

Dear [MP NAME],

I am writing as your constituent to ask you to support the campaign to prevent the early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers. I am deeply concerned that changes to early release under the Government’s new Sentencing Act could mean that two of the men responsible for PC Harper’s death are released from prison before they have served their full sentence.

Police officers put themselves in harm’s way every single day to keep the rest of us safe.

They run towards danger when others run away, knowing that there is always a possibility they may not make it home to their families.

Allowing those responsible for killing an officer in the line of duty to benefit from early release would send a terrible message to police officers across the country about how we value their service and sacrifice.

I believe that PC Harper’s family and colleagues deserve better. I am therefore asking you, as my MP, to urge the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary to make urgent changes to the Early Release Scheme, so that PC Andrew Harper’s killers remain behind bars for the duration of their original sentence.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[NAME]

[POSTCODE]

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