A senior police officer who helped put away PC Andrew Harper's killers is 'appalled' the government is to allow their freedom under the Early Release Scheme. PC Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer, was killed in August 2019 while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire. And I just really don't understand why the Early Release Scheme is being used in these sort of circumstances, it just doesn't feel right.' The early release scheme means prisoners are eligible to apply for release once they have served half of their sentence, instead of two thirds. Talking about the early release scheme exemptions, he added: 'We wanted to go further.