‘He wears PC Harper’s death like a medal’: Inside ‘evil’ Albert Bowers’ life in Monster Mansion prison, the protection that lets him acts like ‘king of the wing’… and why insiders are convinced he’ll kill again if released
Albert Bowers, one of three teenagers convicted over the death of PC Andrew Harper in 2019, has reportedly shown no remorse in prison and is said by insiders to act as "king of the wing" at HMP Frankland, the high-security Durham jail nicknamed "Monster Mansion". The revelations matter because Bowers had until recently been considered eligible for early release under a government scheme, a prospect that campaigners including PC Harper's widow, Lissie, and mother, Debbie Adlam, fought to overturn; the case has become a flashpoint in the wider debate over early-release schemes introduced to ease prison overcrowding.
It has also emerged that Bowers has a previously unreported conviction for sexual assault, committed when he was under 18, adding to a "rap sheet" that includes battery, possession and racially aggravated offences. PC Harper, 28, was dragged for more than a mile behind a car driven by ringleader Henry Long after confronting suspected burglars near the A4 Bath Road in Berkshire in August 2019; Bowers and fellow teenager Jessie Cole received 13-year manslaughter sentences, while Long was jailed for 16 years, and all three were cleared of murder. Following a public campaign and a petition signed by more than a million people, anyone convicted of unlawful killing has now been excluded from the early-release scheme.
- Albert Bowers reportedly shows no remorse and dominates his prison wing.
- He has an undisclosed sexual assault conviction from when he was 17.
- Campaign by PC Harper's family got killers excluded from early release.
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Albert Bowers is one of three men convicted over the death of PC Andrew Harper, a Thames Valley police officer who was dragged behind a car for more than a mile after confronting suspected burglars near Reading in August 2019. Bowers and a second teenager, Jessie Cole, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and given 13-year sentences; the driver, Henry Long, was jailed for 16 years. The case caused public outrage at the time, partly because of the sentences handed down relative to the circumstances of PC Harper's death.
The story now centres on how Bowers is said to be behaving in prison and on questions about his possible release. He is held at HMP Frankland, a high-security jail in County Durham. He had been considered eligible for an early-release scheme brought in to relieve overcrowding in prisons, a prospect opposed by PC Harper's widow, Lissie, and mother, Debbie Adlam, as part of a wider campaign that drew over a million petition signatures.
That campaign has already led to a change in the rules, with people convicted of unlawful killing now excluded from the early-release scheme. The wider debate touches on how the justice system balances prison capacity pressures against victims' families' concerns about dangerous offenders being freed early.