Burnham stirs up political row with review of release plans for violent criminals

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Andy Burnham is immersed in a deepening political row after ordering a review of plans for the early release of thousands of killers, rapists and sex offenders from prison in September. After the family of PC Andrew Harper expressed outrage that his killers may be eligible for release, the prime minister responded by pledging to make sure that “everything has been looked at again” before a fresh tranche of about 6,000 offenders were freed on tags. But soon after Burnham’s comments, prison reform groups, government officials and politicians warned that abandoning measures to ease jail overcrowding could lead to the criminal justice system “collapsing under its own weight”. Burnham has…

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