PC Andrew Harper's killers to stay in jail | BBC News Exclusive

Prime Minister, you said right from the outset, you wanted to find a way to keep Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole in prison. Can you just explain how you've now achieved that? >> So, I can confirm that that will be the It's

been achieved by turning over every stone. I was well aware of the concern when I came into office. I began by uh doing what I could in the first phase uh to make sure that rapists weren't groomers,

those guilty of the most serious offenses against children. Obviously, I had to do that quickly, which I did. Uh but, I always knew I wanted to go further. And what I did and listening to obviously, um PC Harper's family, but victims all over the country, I brought

forward the work uh that I asked for uh the further work. And uh basically, we've spent the summer turning over every single single stone. And now we've come up with a proposal that will

allow uh not just uh those guilty of manslaughter, the people involved in the killing of PC Harper, but those uh who have been convicted for indecent assault, uh those convicted uh for death by dangerous driving, all of these offenders now will remain in prison, hundreds of them.

And we've done it by looking at a number of issues. For instance, um the return of foreign national offenders uh to their country of origin, uh deporting them with no uh return to this country, uh which is a significant

>> So, is that going to Sorry to interrupt. Are you You That's something that's been a stumbling block for quite some time. Can How many of those are you going to be able to get rid of?

There are thousands of them in our prisons. >> We We We're confident that we can uh remove in the short term, cuz obviously, the pri- crisis is happening now. Uh Uh, and we are able to return hundreds, uh,

so that we can free up places. But perhaps the, um, the big change that has enabled us to go, uh, further is dealing with something that has been a problem, uh, for a long time. So that is people in prison on indefinite sentences.

Now, as I've looked at this whole issue, what I've tried to do is hear the voice of the public, uh, the concerns of victims at the heart of everything that I've been doing in >> just so people know at home, these are imprisonment for public protection >> Yes, they are.

>> back pre-2012, don't they, the people who are inside still? >> Yes, they are. And let me just say none of this is easy because people who were convicted under those sentences did cause harm, uh, so it's not, uh, an easy, an easy

choice. However, I've applied common sense here, and I was faced with a situation where people on those sentences who have more than served their time, not being released when others who've committed very serious crimes being released, uh, early.

And the judgment I've made is the public, in my view, would prefer a situation where people who have served their time, uh, to be considered for release before those who haven't. And it is correcting an injustice that's been there in

the system. Not not all, but many were very young when they were sentenced sentenced for offenses that, uh, in some, uh, uh, sentences that are not of the same level of seriousness uh, as those who were previously going to be

scheduled for early release. >> You're thinking of cases like Thomas White, which I know you'll be familiar with in the northwest of England, who was jailed for stealing a mobile phone. He was a petty criminal, caused lots of problems.

He's been inside for 14 years >> I know. >> on an IPP. So he he will be out, he'll be one of those that gets released, will he? >> So, what I've tried to do here, Roger, is kind