The government has said today that it will introduce mandatory life sentences for those who kill an emergency worker in the course of their duty “as soon as possible”.

• Named after PC Andrew Harper who was killed in the line of duty in 2019, the law will introduce mandatory life sentences for anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime.

Today’s move follows an unwavering campaign by Andrew’s family, including his widow Lissie, and the Police Federation, and comes after a number of meetings with the Justice Secretary and Home Secretary.

Henry Long, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers each received custodial sentences of between 13 and 19 years in prison for PC Harper’s manslaughter. An appeal by the Attorney General to increase their time behind bars was rejected.

The move extends mandatory life sentences to anyone who commits the manslaughter of an emergency worker on duty – including police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics – while carrying out another crime unless there are truly exceptional circumstances. Courts must already impose life sentences for murder, with a whole-life order being the starting point if the victim is a police officer.

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said: “We are going to pass into law mandatory life sentences for those who unlawfully kill an emergency worker in the course of their duty. I pay tribute to Lissie Harper’s remarkable campaign.

“This government is on the side of victims and their families and we want our emergency services to know that we’ll always have their back.”

When quizzed on the announcement on Radio 4’s Today programme earlier today, justice secretary Dominic Raab said that the initial sentences in this case, “13 and 16 years …were too low and my predecessor Rob Buckland had requested a review of those sentences.”

He highlighted that there had been 10,000 convictions for assaults against emergency workers over the past year.

He said the legal change was a “moral duty” and that the need for change following from the Harper case “reflects the severity of the attacks” and that “there should be a mandatory sentence”.

When asked if the law compromised equality before the law, Raab said that there were “aggravating factors for all different kinds of crime” and that the crime was “of a different category” if targeted against emergency workers.

The move follows recent government action to protect police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics and ensure those who seek to harm them feel the full force of the law. This includes plans to double the maximum penalty for assaulting them to two years’ imprisonment.

• Henry Long was given a 19-year extended determinate sentence (EDS). This is composed of 16 years in custody (unless his release on licence is ordered by the Parole Board at the two thirds point) and an additional three years on extended licence to bring it to a total of 19 years. Long would be liable to be recalled to custody at any point when he is on probation if he were to reoffend, or breach his licence conditions.
• The changes will mean that those who kill an emergency worker while committing an offence will face a mandatory life sentence. The emergency worker does not need to be aware that that offence had taken place or be responding directly to it. Judges will have the option to impose a different sentence in exceptional circumstances if there are exceptional circumstances which relate to the offender or the offence which would make it unjust to apply the minimum sentence.
• It will cover those emergency workers as defined in the same way by in the Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 and in section 68 of the Sentencing Code who were acting in the exercise of their functions. This includes police officers, National Crime Agency officers, prison officers, custody officers, firefighters and paramedics.
• The courts must already impose life sentences for murder and the starting point for the murder of a police officer or prison office acting in the course of their duties for offences on or after 13 April 2015 is a whole life order. The courts can also impose a life sentence for manslaughter.
• The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 introduced a statutory aggravating factor which means judges must also consider tougher sentences for offences such as manslaughter, GBH or sexual assault – if the victim was an emergency worker (this has since been consolidated into the Sentencing Code and can be found in s67 of the Sentencing Act 2020).