A petition calling to stop the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers has smashed past 200,000 signatures. Yesterday, Andy Burnham gave the thumbs-up to plans to let a number of criminals, including those guilty of murder, become eligible for early release just halfway through their sentences. The petition has now collected more than 200,000 signatures while fury continues over the early release scheme. One of those up in arms over the early release scheme includes Peter Bleksley, a retired Metropolitan Police detective. "We will do what we have to do to protect Andrew Harper’s legacy and other victims up and down the country who don’t have a platform to put their points across," she said.