Tragic PC dragged for a mile behind getaway car
Jury told of officer’s horrific injuries as quad bike gang deny murder
A POLICEMAN was dragged behind a car for more than a mile when responding to a robbery four hours after his shift ended, a court heard yesterday.
Andrew Harper, 28, was killed in ‘truly shocking circumstances’ when his foot became tangled in a tow cable after he stopped the theft of a quad bike.
He died completely naked apart from his boots and socks because his clothes were ripped from his body as he was dragged along by the Seat Toledo.
A witness said he was so badly injured he resembled a ‘bloodied deer’.
Brian Altman, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that Henry Long, 18, who was driving the car, and his accomplices, both 17, were aware they were dragging the constable along and sped up to try to shake him off.
The QC said: ‘With his ankles caught in a strap that was trailing behind a car being driven at speed along a country lane, he was dragged for over a mile along the road surface, swung from side to side like a pendulum in an effort to dislodge him, losing items of his police uniform along the way, with the rest of his uniform being quite literally ripped and stripped from his body.
‘When, at last he became disentangled he was left with the most awful injuries, from which he died there on the road, surrounded by colleagues who tried in vain to save him.’
Mr Harper and his colleague, PC Andrew Shaw, had been due to end their shift at 7pm on August 15 last year, having begun at 10am.
They were travelling back to drop off their BMW patrol car when they responded to a report of a quad bike theft at 11.17pm.
Mr Altman said: ‘Despite it being well beyond the end of their shift, because they were close and thought they could help, they responded to the call. It was a decision that was to cost PC Harper his life.’
The owner of the £10,000 quad bike, Robert Wallis, from Bradfield Southend in Berkshire, saw the defendants fix the tow strap to the Honda’s handlebars before towing it off, Mr Altman said.
One of the 17-year-olds was sitting on the bike but when the Seat was met head on by the police BMW he detached the strap and tried to leap into the car as PC Harper gave chase on foot.
It was at this point the cable became tangled around the officer’s ankle and he was dragged behind the speeding Seat. Mr Shaw had reversed the BMW and expected to find his colleague in the road. When he realised something was wrong he set off in pursuit and came across his colleague’s stab vest.
Long drove the car for more than a mile along the dark country lane for a total of 91 seconds at an average speed of 42.5mph, Mr Altman told the jury.
He added: ‘A snaking trail of apparent tyre marks, abrasion and scuff marks, blood and body matter left behind on the road surface, as well as personal items and clothing that were ripped from PC Harper as he was dragged to his death, illustrates the attempt to dislodge him from the strap.’
Mr Harper, who was known to colleagues as Harps, became dislodged from the strap and was found ‘barely alive’ in the road.
The three defendants were arrested later that night at the nearby Four Houses Corner caravan site. They had completed a reconnaissance trip at about 5pm to the house from which the quad bike was taken, the court heard.
Long, from Mortimer in Berkshire, pleaded guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing. All three defendants deny murder but admit conspiring to steal.
Thomas King, 21, of Bramley in Hampshire, had already admitted conspiring to steal the quad bike and will be sentenced later.
Mr Harper’s widow, Lissie, sat with his brother, parents and other family members in the well of the court yesterday.
Jurors were shown horrifying footage captured by cameras mounted in the police car that showed the trail of blood left by the officer as he was dragged along. The clip begins with one of the 17-year-olds – whose identities are protected by law – running alongside the Seat before jumping in the passenger window as Mr Harper gives chase.
The Seat – and Mr Harper – disappear from view as Mr Shaw is heard on the radio saying: ‘My colleague PC Harper got out of the vehicle ... I’ve now lost him.’
The trial, which is expected to last until April 17, continues.
‘A decision that cost his life’ ‘Clothes were ripped from him’