ANDREW HARPER, a 28-year-old police constable(警察，警官) (pc), had been married for just four weeks when he was killed in the line of duty(在执行公务时) in 2019. Attempting to prevent three teenagers from stealing a quad bike in Berkshire, he was caught by a tow-rope and dragged at ferocious(凶猛的，猛烈的) speed by the perpetrators’ getaway car. The ghastly(可怕的，恐怖的) crime shocked the country and the culprits were convicted of manslaughter(过失杀人) in 2020.
安德鲁·哈珀，一位28岁的警察，2019年因公殉职时结婚仅四周。在伯克郡试图阻止三名青少年偷窃四轮摩托车时，他被拖绳缠住，被肇事者的逃逸汽车以极速拖行。这起可怕的罪行震惊全国，肇事者于2020年被判过失杀人罪。
Two of those men are now among 5,000 prisoners eligible(有资格的，符合条件的) for early release under the government’s latest scheme to prevent the prison system from “collapsing”. Andy Burnham, the prime minister, had said that he could not find a way to keep the killers—and all those convicted of manslaughter—behind bars(在狱中，坐牢) without the prison system reaching capacity. That was before 1m people signed a petition(请愿书) signalling their outrage(愤怒，愤慨). On August 11th Mr Burnham relented(让步，心软): he was “increasingly confident” that the notorious(臭名昭著的) killers would remain imprisoned. The crisis is a test of Mr Burnham’s ability to make hard decisions.
其中两人现在位列政府最新计划下5000名有资格提前释放的囚犯之中，该计划旨在防止监狱系统“崩溃”。首相安迪·伯纳姆曾表示，他找不到办法在不使监狱系统达到容量上限的情况下，将这些杀人犯——以及所有被判过失杀人罪的人——关在监狱里。那是在100万人签署请愿书表达愤怒之前。8月11日，伯纳姆先生让步了：他“越来越有信心”这些臭名昭著的杀手将继续被监禁。这场危机是对伯纳姆先生做出艰难决定能力的考验。
Weeks after taking power(上台执政) in 2024 the Labour government implemented(实施，执行) an emergency early-release scheme as prisons were 99% full, prompting allegations that it was soft on crime(对犯罪软弱). The latest scheme is even more controversial(有争议的): from October 1st criminals imprisoned for less serious offences will be released after serving 33% rather than 40-50% of their sentence behind bars, while those convicted of more serious offences—including manslaughter—will be eligible for parole(假释) after serving 50% rather than 66% of their sentence.
2024年工党政府上台数周后，由于监狱满员率达99%，实施了紧急提前释放计划，引发了对犯罪软弱的指控。最新计划更具争议：从10月1日起，因较轻罪行入狱的罪犯将在服刑33%而非40-50%后获释，而犯有更严重罪行（包括过失杀人）的人将在服刑50%而非66%后有资格获得假释。
