Chair tells BBC 'justice has not been served' for murder of PC Frank Mason

14 March 2025

The chair of Hertfordshire Police Federation has told the BBC he is ‘staggered and alarmed’ that cop killer James Hurley has been released from prison.

Luke Mitchell said justice had not been served for the murder of off-duty Hertfordshire Police Officer Frank Mason during an armed robbery in Hemel Hempstead in 1988.

Hurley was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 but escaped while being transferred in 1994. He was on the run for 13 years and was found in 2007.

He was cleared for release by the parole board following a hearing last October.

PC Frank Mason

Speaking on BBC Radio Three Counties, Luke said police across the country were ‘stunned’ by Hurley’s release, which would take time to process.

Luke said: “This is the most serious of serious crimes.

“I can’t see how anybody who has committed that many offences and such serious crimes, could ever be fit to be released from prison. I am completely bewildered.

Guns

“Hurley killed a police officer. He robbed a bank. They were carrying guns.

“He then escaped from prison, threatened a prison guard with a knife.

“He went abroad where he committed further crime and spent 13 years on the run.

“This is a pattern of crime over a number of years.

“It’s really alarming to see this outcome, and the fact he has even been released we only found out on Monday ourselves.”

He added: “We are stunned at Hertfordshire Police, and I think nationally as well about this outcome. It’s taking some time to digest and process.”

Court

Luke told BBC radio listeners that he did not believe Hurley was a changed man, pointing to a court hearing involving Hurley in 2016.

“He had the audacity to appeal his sentence,” Luke said. “The judge at that time kicked it out of court and said it was frankly incredible what he was suggesting, and that was only in 2016.

“The judge in the 2016 case said that Hurley was prepared to change his account to dictate his own interest.

“In my opinion, he’s hoodwinked the parole board and we now have a very dangerous man out on the streets and justice has not been served.”

Luke added: “This isn’t a reformed man. This isn’t someone who has taken the consequences for his actions.

“And even when you look at the parole board’s statement, they have said things like ‘on the whole, he’s been well behaved in prison’.

“Well, what does that mean? That doesn’t reassure me that this man has changed his behaviour or is any less violent and thuggish today than he was.”

Prison

Luke said he shared the opinion of many people that a court sentencing an offender to life in prison should mean they spend the rest of their life behind bars.

He said: “If somebody is prepared to commit that serious nature of crime, they must pay the consequences.

"You don’t go to robberies or serious crimes with guns unless you’re prepared to use them.

“Life should mean life.

“Killing someone is such an abhorrent crime. This was the killing of a police officer, someone who was prepared to step in, even when off duty, to try to catch criminals and keep people safe, and (his killer) has spent fewer than 20 years in prison.

“And then when you consider everything else that he did, in terms of escaping custody, it is frankly shocking.”

He added: “It sends out a message that the punishment just isn’t there.”