‘Horror’ of hero PC’s widow at £465k aid for killers
Widow’s horror over legal aid bill for PC’s killers as she says: ‘Now we know cost of injustice’
THE killers of hero policeman Andrew Harper have received £465,000 in legal aid, the Mail can reveal.
The astonishing sum was paid to solicitors and barristers defending the three teenagers who dragged the constable to his death behind a car for more than a mile.
Last night, PC Harper’s widow Lissie said she was ‘horrified’ by the figures, adding: ‘Not only did we not get justice for Andrew, we now know the cost of that injustice.’
Lawyers for gang ringleader Henry Long, 19, were paid £169,175. His accomplices Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, had separate legal teams who were paid £131,696 and £164,898 respectively – a total to the taxpayer of just under £465,769. All three were spared life sentences for their sickening crime and could be back on the streets in just eight years.
Mrs Harper, 29, said: ‘It saddens me, but doesn’t surprise me, that so much public money has been and continues to be spent on defending the indefensible. It just doesn’t seem right or fair.
‘Andrew was my whole life. I have had to sit in a courtroom and witness the people who chose to take my husband’s life show no remorse.’
Mrs Harper has launched a campaign for a change in the law to see all criminals die behind bars if they are convicted of killing a police officer.
‘Our petition calling for this now has more than 500,000 signatures,’ she said. ‘I am sure the public – whose support for me has been unstinting – will be as horrified as I am to know how much money is going towards paying this trio’s escalating legal costs.
It’s news such as this that makes me more determined than ever to keep on fighting for Harper’s Law, which would mean these despicable criminals are jailed for life.’
The three killers showed no remorse after dragging PC Harper, 28, to his death during a police chase last year.
Long, who told police he ‘didn’t give a f*** about any of this’ when he was initially charged with murder, was jailed for 16 years.
Judge Mr Justice Edis warned that if he were left on the streets it would only be a ‘matter of time’ before someone else died. Bowers and Cole, who have learning difficulties, were each jailed for 13 years. All three were acquitted of murder.
The group will have to serve at least two-thirds of their sentences in jail before they are eligible for release.
This means ‘dangerous’ Long could be out in just ten years and eight months and his co-accused could be released in eight-and-a-half years.
However, the sentences are the subject of two separate appeals.
Attorney General Suella Braverman has referred them to the Court of the
‘Defending the indefensible’
‘Killer could be out in ten years’
Appeal for being ‘unduly lenient’. Simultaneously, Bowers and Cole have lodged challenges against their manslaughter convictions. Both cases are likely to lead to further legal aid bills.
Figures seen by the Mail show Long’s team of solicitors was paid £119,405 while his barrister, a QC, got £48,622.
Bowers’ solicitors were paid £78,804 and his barristers £52,282. In Cole’s case, £78,804 was paid to solicitors and £85,132 to his QC.
A further £2,720 went on legal representation for all three at the police station after their initial arrest. All the figures include VAT. The total bill will reflect the fact a first trial had to be abandoned in March due to the lockdown. A second trial then took place.
The Legal Aid Authority, which handles payments, is also understood to pay higher fees in cases where a defendant is accused of killing a police officer or another public official. By contrast, police officers’ widows receive a ‘death in service lump sum grant’. It is not known how much was due to Mrs Harper, but it is likely to have been only a five-figure sum.
The Police Federation website says the grant is calculated as ‘two times your pensionable salary’. PCs in England and Wales earn a basic salary of between £25,560 and £40,128.
Thames Valley officer PC Harper, who had been married for just four weeks, was killed after he responded to reports of a quad bike theft in rural Berkshire in August last year
Long, Bowers and Cole attached the stolen quad to a car using a tow rope. When PC Harper tried to stop the men, his ankles became tangled in the rope before the group sped off. His clothes were ripped from his body as the car swerved from side to side, and he suffered ‘absolutely catastrophic, unsurvivable injuries’, the trial heard.
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