Pc Andrew Harper’s killers put behind bars
THREE teenagers who killed Pc Andrew Harper in the line of duty as he responded to a latenight burglary have been given 16 and 13-year jail terms, as the judge ruled out the suggestion jurors cleared them of murder due to “improper pressure”.
Henry Long, 19, and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, were acquitted of murder at the end of their Old Bailey trial earlier this month, prompting the victim’s widow Lissie Harper to appeal to the UK Government for a retrial.
The teenagers were sentenced at the same court yesterday, where Long – the getaway driver in the vehicle which dragged Pc Harper to his death down a winding country road in Berkshire last August – was handed a 16-year sentence for manslaughter.
Cole, who sprinted past the outstretched grasp of Pc Harper to climb into the getaway vehicle as it made off, was jailed for 13 years for the same offence.
Bowers, also a passenger, was jailed for 13 years.
Sentencing the trio, who are members of the travelling community, Mr Justice Edis said: “Nothing which I can do, or could have done, if there had been a conviction for murder, can restore Andrew Harper to his loving wife and family or to the public he served so well. His devastating loss in these terrible circumstances will follow his family forever.”
He described them as “young, unintelligent but professional criminals”.
The judge also took the unusual step of addressing “controversy” over the verdicts.
He said: “I have been made aware that there has been some discussion about the trial and, in particular, the measures which were in place for the protection of the jury.
“It may be believed in some quarters that the jury was subject to some improper pressure.
“To the best of my knowledge and belief there is no truth in that at all.”
The judge added: “You killed a talented and brave young police officer who was going above and beyond his duty in order to provide a public service, you did so because you have deliberately decided to expose any police officer that got in your way to a risk of death.”
Mr Harper’s family were present in court as the sentences were handed down. Some members of the jury also returned, to an adjoining courtroom, to follow the proceedings on videolink.
Addressing the court in person, Mrs Harper broke down as she described her future as being “robbed” by the teenagers.
She said: “They took more than one life away that day, they stole the person I used to be. I will spend every day for the rest of my life with a hole that will never be filled.”
She added: “Four weeks was all I had with my husband – four weeks to be called his wife. My life often feels bleak, hopeless, irreparable.”
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC told jurors the case involved the “senseless killing of a young police officer in the line of duty, a young man who was doing no more than his job”.
The original trial was abandoned the day the country went into lockdown in March, while extra security measures were ordered for the retrial, which started on June 23, amid fears of potential juror intimidation by supporters of the defendants.
And a female juror was discharged just a day before the remaining 11 started deliberating on their verdicts after she was seen by a prison officer to mouth “Bye boys” to the teenagers in the dock.
The verdicts were met with anguish from the 28-year-old victim’s widow, who said she was “utterly shocked and appalled” at the decision not to convict the teenagers of murder, adding: “I now have my own life sentence to bear and believe me when I say it will be a lot more painful, soul destroying and painful journey than anyone facing a meagre number of years in prison will experience.”