Help for the widow of PC Harper as she fights for new law

THE WIDOW of Pc Andrew Harper will be granted access to Government lawyers as part of her campaign to create new legislation in her husband’s memory.

Lissie Harper said she “will not back down” on her vision of creating Harper’s Law, meaning those who kill emergency workers due to a criminal act are jailed for life.

Her campaign was launched after three teenagers responsible for her 28- year- old husband’s death were handed determinate prison sentences for manslaughter.

Mrs Harper spent yesterday in talks with Home Secretary Priti Patel and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland QC to harness support for the law.

Speaking after the summit, Mrs Harper, 29, said: “Our world now is very different but there are still attacks on emergency workers and unfortunately deaths, and that has only made me more determined to make a change.

“We spoke about creating a taskforce to get to what Harper’s Law will be and how we get there. We want to get it perfect, and speaking with the right people is what we need to do now and I feel positive following the meeting.

“I was very clear that although I am fully aware these things take time and we absolutely need to get it right, it also is something we need.”

Pc Harper had been married for four weeks when he was caught in a tow strap attached to a car and dragged to his death as he and a colleague responded to a burglary in Berkshire, in August last year.

Driver Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, were cleared of murder and found guilty instead of manslaughter.