AIBU to think PC Harper's killers being released early is awful?

I would have thought it’s extremely unlikely that it will actually happen. They’ve not actually been approved for release. They are part of a group of offenders who can be considered for early release. Given the high profile of this case I’d be very surprised if it happened.
I may be wrong and I may have misunderstood it but this is my understanding.

@Smartiepants79 is correct. They are among the categories of prisoners who could be released. It does not mean that they will be.

God, I hope not.

It’s not just what they did - it was their callous insolence in court.

This was not just any murder/manslaughter - it was exceptional in its horror and sadism.

But if they can’t put any new people in prison what are they supposed to do?
They are building more space but can’t magic cells & prison officers from nowhere!

it’s awful they meet the criteria for release and I really feel for his family but this is all being whipped up to cause outrage!

That is because It IS outrageous.

I agree honestly I do but what is the answer?

There's talk of freeing up space in women's prisons, but it's just one suggestion. I am glad Burnham has stalled their release but its tight with their release coinciding with parliament reopening.

I could never wrap my head around why this case was manslaughter not murder. I understand it in theory that they could not prove intent but it felt very wrong. So it does seem extra cruel for this family if they are released early. The mum was on the tv and I really feel for her.

The new Sentencing Act does not exclude their crime but, as far as is officially in the public domain, a decision has not been made.
The legislation is about the crimes and sentences, not the eligibility of individuals. It was already changed to exclude sex offences of exual grooming against children and rape, that was original included but if it is to be changed for manslaughter of emergency service workers then it has to be as a whole, not for one specific crime.
The Sentencing Act 2026 is a significant piece of legislation that has a number of provisions around Sentencing and dealing with offenders. Most of the provisions are on the recommendation of the Bar Council, so it's no surprise it reflects their progressive, liberal agenda that is endemic in the administration of Justice in the UK.

And outrage is what it should cause! The poor man went to work to protect the public and was killed by these animals. Vile!

They haven’t been let out early and even under the early release scheme there is no guarantee they will, and even without the scheme there is a chance they would still never have served their full sentence. Two of the three men were convicted before the new rules came in to place and so cannot legally be held to them. We should be glad of that because if a government can change the ruling on sentences after you have been convicted, that’s a risk nobody should be happy with.

I don’t know why people are pretending any of this is new. Prisoners serving part of their sentence on licence with strict controls in the community, after they have proven themselves to be safe to do so has always been a thing. About half are recalled to prison, mostly for not keeping up with some admin, late for meetings with probation officers etc, a very small number re-offend.

Our prisons are overcrowded and at crisis point. Without early release, we will have no more room for prisoners. If Burnham said he was building more prisons, people would whine about schools and hospitals being more important. The new rules mean the most serious offenders will not be released early. Doesn’t it make absolute sense that if you have thousands of prisoners serving sentences for say, burglary, you let them out to serve the rest of their sentence under a tag, meeting a probation officer who works with them in the community to reduce re-offending, leaving space in prisons for murderers, rapists and paedophiles?

Yes that’s great idea, although freeing up space in a lower security prison doesn’t necessarily free up the right space!

He did not stall their release. Even under the previous rulings, they were not yet eligible for release.

They need to get shot of the 10k foreign nationals and only release other prisoners early who have not been convicted of a horrific manslaughter.

Surely, surely there's all kinds of druggies and gang members etc who havent dragged a PC to his death?

Because those on the jury were stupid. Just because they didn't set out to murder/ not premeditated does not mean that there was not any intent when it became abundantly clear what was happening.

Do what student landlords did when I was at Southampton Uni (in Portswood between 1998 to 2002). Take a finite space (in my case a two bed terrrace) and just keep shoving in more bedrooms.

The bathroom? That's now a bedroom.
The lounge that everyone has to walk through? Now a bedroom

How can anyone possible think it is reasonable? Well, seems some people on here do! Unless they pressed the wrong button, or mean they think you shouldn't be worrying about it.

Whipped up to cause outrage? WTF?

It should cause outrage.

In actuality and in law they could not prove intent. Ultimately this was a burglary that went very, very wrong.

If the courts had refused to consider a manslaughter verdict and went for murder or nothing, those three would be walking the streets right now.

An argument could be made that druggies and gang members pose a greater risk to the wider public than those convicted of PC Harper's killing.

They both pose a risk. I'm not sure how they are less of a risk tbh.

'In actuality and in law they could not prove intent. Ultimately this was a burglary that went very, very wrong'

If you're dragging someone along whilst driving fast you are intending to kill them. The burglary was irrelevant by that stage.

I don’t think it will happen. The public would be too angry. They can’t do this.

This is new legislation and it will apply to those already sentenced
40 perc of people leaving prison reoffend within the year
60 perc within 3 years
That's those sentenced to prison. Thousands of crimes never receive any form of real punishment.
Everyone always minimises property crime. 'Let the burglars out to free up spaces' 'It's was only fraud, they shouldn't be in prison' 'just claim on the insurance ' well if you have been burgled it is devastating to your sense of security and well being, if you have your savings fraudulently stolen it affects your whole life. Theft costs us all, businesses close down and then there are no facilities or jobs. Yet there is a prevalent narrative that those who worked to pay for possessions should just suck it up, and those that steal their possessions need to be supported and rehabilitated in the community.

Always the same. Appeasing criminality.