Cop’s laughing killers
Thugs celebrate as jury clears them of murdering PC Harper
THESE are the smiles PC Andrew Harper’s widow and family had to look at throughout the trial, the killers sniggering and joking in the dock as the court heard harrowing details of how the “gentle giant” had died.
And yesterday the three were jubilant, punching the air in glee and slapping each other on the back, as they were cleared of murdering PC Harper, 28.
Henry Long, 19, and Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, will instead be sentenced next week for manslaughter.
PC Harper’s widow Lissie was at the Old Bailey with his parents Phil Harper and Debbie Adlam and brother Sean, to hear how her husband had been trying to stop the men stealing a quad bike when his foot got caught in a loop of rope trailing from Long’s SEAT Toledo.
SWERVED
The officer, known as “Harps”, was “swung like a pendulum” for more than a mile, flayed alive by the surface of a remote country lane at speeds of up to 60mph, while Long swerved violently, apparently trying to throw him off.
Long told his two passengers to “shut up” and “turn the music up” as he dragged PC Harper to his death. But all three defendants were cleared of murder by a jury which had deliberated for more than 12 hours. Cole and Bowers were convicted of manslaughter, which
Long had admitted.
It can now be reported that Long had previously threatened to “ram” a police officer with his car as he spoke to a community support officer.
In the conversation in July 2018, ruled inadmissible at the trial, Long said: “You can’t touch me now
’cos I’ve
passed my driving test and if police try to stop me I will ram them.” It can also be revealed the jury had to be given special protection amid fears they would be threatened by people linked to the defendants. A female juror was discharged last week after smiling at the killers, mouthing “goodbye boys” as she left the court.
Long, who left school aged 12, had previous convictions for battery, being drunk and disorderly and shoplifting. When he was arrested at the Four Houses Corner travellers site in Ufton Nervet, Berks, he claimed to have been watching a Fast and Furious DVD at the time of the killing. He complained police were unfairly targeting travellers, and said: “I don’t give a f*** about any of this” when he was charged.
Bowers also has a string of convictions, which include making racist threats, battery, criminal damage, sexual assault, and possessing an offensive weapon.
Their defence claimed the incident was a “freak event” and they had been unaware PC Harper had become caught up in the rope. The prosecution said PC Harper was 6ft tall and 14 stone, and the defendants must have known he was there.
A reconstruction suggested that rather than stopping, Long swerved in the road to try to throw him off.
Long, then 18, Cole and Bowers, 17 at the time, set out to steal a quad bike and then escape “at all costs”.
The killers had spotted the Honda TRX500 quad bike at the home of Peter Wallis, in Bradfield Southend, Berks, earlier on August 15.
All of them were wearing balaclavas and gloves and they were armed with an axe, crowbars and a length of pipe. They had taped over the car’s number plate and disabled the rear lights.
PC Harper was in an unmarked BMW with PC Andrew Shaw and was due to finish his shift at 7pm.
When they drove down Admoor Lane they came nose to nose with the SEAT going the other way. As the car sped away dragging the sling, PC Harper’s feet became entangled. Mercifully, he was likely to have been rendered instantly unconscious.
Detective Superintendent Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation, said the killers took a “conscious decision” not to assist police.
He said: “Andrew and PC Shaw
were on their way home. They did not have to respond to this call for assistance from a member of the public. But that’s not what we do. We are there to protect life and property.”
The killers had made “deliberate and cynical attempts” to frustrate the investigation. Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said when charged, they had “absolutely no understanding of the damage they had done”.
Mr Laidlaw said: “They simply do not recognise the extent of the grief and loss Andrew Harper’s family have to confront.”