Manslaughter Rule Change Takes No Account Of This Nuanced Crime – Edward Grange Published in The Times

Writing in today’s Times, Corker Binning partner Edward Grange considers the government’s decision to exclude manslaughter from its new early release provisions – a move that followed intense publicity around the PC Andrew Harper case.

Ministers have bowed to public opinion in barring the early release of PC Harper’s killers, but the broad measure will touch many who don’t deserve longer terms
The government’s decision to exclude manslaughter from its early release provisions came after intense publicity over the potentially imminent release of two of the men convicted of the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper having served roughly half their sentences.

The attorney-general had previously referred their 13-year sentences to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient, but the court declined to increase them. The statutory process for challenging sentences thought to be too low was used, and the sentences remained undisturbed. A prison guard walks along a metal-railed landing inside ‘A’ Hall in Craiginches prison, Aberdeen, Scotland.

Now, years later — with early release approaching — the rules are being changed. That is troubling. Prisoners serve their sentences knowing the rules governing how and when they may be released. They undertake rehabilitation and progress through prison towards that point. A change that means they spend longer in custody is hardly an administrative detail — it fundamentally alters the reality of the sentence being served.  Moreover, the offence of manslaughter covers a wide range of conduct. The Sentencing Council describes it as encompassing cases ranging from those “not far from being an accident” to those “just short of murder”.  We now know that the exclusion applies to all prisoners convicted of manslaughter. There is no distinction according to the type of manslaughter, the circumstances of the killing or the offender’s level of culpability.

Consider the woman who kills her abuser after years of serious domestic violence and is convicted of manslaughter.  Having served the required part of her sentence and spent years working towards release she may find that she must remain in prison for longer. Her case might never make the front page but the same rule applies nonetheless.

• Andy Burnham may be fenced in by early release scheme exceptions.

That clarity matters because it exposes the breadth of the government’s decision. There may well be a case for excluding certain forms of manslaughter from the regime. But it needs to be made across the whole spectrum of the offence, rather than in response to the political difficulty posed by a single high-profile case.

• Release of PC Harper’s killers blocked but prison problem remains

There is also an unavoidable practical consequence. The male prison estate is operating at about 98 per cent capacity. Keeping more prisoners inside for longer requires more cells. Ministers are considering using parts of the female estate to accommodate men. The capacity problem that prompted the reforms has not disappeared simply because some of their consequences proved unpopular.

Sentencing policy requires the government to make difficult choices. But changing the rules for prisoners already serving their sentences in response to public pressure is a different matter entirely.

The Court of Appeal has already considered the Harper sentences. We should be wary of allowing their consequences to be revisited, years later, in the court of public opinion.

First Published by The Times, News UK & Ireland Limited 16th September 2026