LOCK UP PC’S KILLERS FOR LONGER
Hero officer Harper’s mum leads calls for tougher jail term
THE “lenient” jail terms given to PC Andrew Harper’s killers have been sent to the Attorney General for review.
PC Harper’s mum Debbie Adlam said the sentences meant Henry Long, 19, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, had “got away with it”.
PC Andrew Harper’s heartbroken mum has welcomed the news his killers could have their prison terms increased.
The sentences are to be reviewed by the Attorney General, which Debbie Adlam said is the “right thing to do”.
She added: “We walked out from court... feeling so let down. Andrew deserves so much better.
“We can’t bring him back but we can hope there’s something... to give him the justice he deserves.” Henry Long, 19, and Albert Bowers and Jessie
Cole, both 18, were jailed for manslaughter for a crime the judge described as being
“very close to murder in its seriousness”.
Long, who drove the car that dragged PC Harper to his death, was sentenced to 16 years, meaning he may be out in less than 11.
Cole and Bowers, the passengers at the time, were each jailed for 13 years, so they could be out in eight.
Speaking about the killers’ joy in court at being convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, Debbie said: “That was very insulting. To see them jumping and celebrating was hard enough. They got away with it really.
“But now hopefully the sentence can be increased to something that is a little more realistic for the crime that they’ve committed.
“Losing Andrew has been above and beyond what we could even imagine. It’s knocked us sideways.”
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office confirmed it has received a request for the jail terms to be looked at under the “unduly lenient” sentence scheme.
Asked if she would use the phrase “unduly lenient” to describe the sentences handed down, Debbie said: “We really felt that.
“I think because there were so many years knocked off for being of a certain age and for admitting manslaughter early on – the years they are going to do once they have taken out their allowances... to me that’s criminal.”
PC Harper’s widow Lissie, 29, told the Old Bailey how she has been plunged into a “lost and endless world of numb despair”.
PC Harper, 28, was caught in a strap and dragged for a mile behind Long’s car after trying to stop the gang taking a stolen quad bike in Berkshire last August.
Long swerved violently at speeds of up to 60mph.
PC Andrew Shaw, who was with PC Harper when he was dragged away and who found him dying on the roadside, delayed taking retirement before giving evidence.
PC Shaw stood in the dock while Bowers, Long and Cole, laughed and fell asleep as horrendous details of the death emerged.
Now – after stepping down from frontline duties after a 30-year career – he has been praised by chiefs. Det Chief Insp Stuart Blaik, of Thames Valley police, said: “PC Shaw has been an absolute rock.
“He extended his career so he could give evidence as an officer as opposed to a member of the public.”
Police have criticised the killers’ friends and family for protecting them. People at the caravan site where Cole, Bowers and Long were hiding, backed the trio’s claims they spent the night watching DVDs.
Det Chief Insp Blaik said: “We were frustrated by associates and families. That’s very disappointing.”
Hopefully the sentence can be increased to something more realistic for the crime
DEBBIE ADLAM ON JAIL TERMS HANDED DOWN TO THE THUGS