PC’s bride says his death is a life sentence
The widow of a hero policeman dragged to his death by a speeding getaway car has broken her silence to speak about their life together, his death and her feelings towards his killers.
PC Andrew Harper died one year ago yesterday when he was dragged along a country road in Oxfordshire. He had been married for just four weeks.
Now his widow Lizzie Harper has spoken out to mark that anniversary and to launch her campaign for Harper’s Law, which would mean automatic life sentences for anyone who kills a police officer.
A national outcry followed the not guilty to murder verdicts as well as the shorter sentences handed down to his killers for the lesser crime of manslaughter.
She said: “In killing Andrew, a good, hardworking, honest, loving man, they have taken a life that was so precious and subjected me to a life sentence without him.
“For this to be allowed to happen it’s clear that our justice system, supposedly designed to protect us all – and which Andrew devoted his life to defending until the very end – is broken.”
The couple met when they were still at school, and Andrew joined the police at 19.
She said: “Andrew and I grew up together so, losing him, I feel I’ve lost a whole part of myself.
“I miss everything about him – the hugs, the kisses, him coming in and scooping me up, giving me love. It’s crippling. We had a honeymoon booked in the Maldives in September, which I had to cancel, and were planning on trying for a baby when we got back.”