PC Harper’s widow calls for full life jail terms for killers who claim lives of 999 heroes – after traveller trio dragged her husband to death in line of duty
- Lissie Harper said she would to ‘never stop’ in pursuit of justice for her husband
- She wants killers of emergency workers to be given full-life sentences in court
- The campaign is being backed by the Police Federation of England and Wales
- PC Harper was killed trying to stop thieves fleeing after they stole a quad bike
- He was caught in a crane strap dangling from the back of a Seat Toledo
- Henry Long, 19, and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, 28, got 13 years
The greiving widow of hero officer PC Andrew Harper has launched a campaign for full life jail terms for the killers of emergency services workers.
Lissie Harper is calling for Andrew’s Law, which would mean those convicted of causing the death of police, fire or emergency medical workers would spend the rest of their life in prison.
She said: “I pledge to my late husband to never stop until I have made the difference that this country clearly needs.
Andrew Harper and his wife Lissie, who vowed to campaign for full-life terms for 999 killers
“I vow to stand strong and firm with so many other honourable people in our country to make the changes that we clearly know to be justified.”
The campaign is being backed by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents thousands of officers up to the rank of chief inspector.
PC Harper was killed as he tried to stop three thieves fleeing after they stole a quad bike in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, on August 15 last year.
Lissie Harper, the widow of Pc Andrew Harper, leaves the Old Bailey after the sentencing
Henry Long, 19, and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced for the 28-year-old newlywed’s manslaughter.
Thames Valley Police officer Pc Harper was caught in a crane strap dangling from the back of a Seat Toledo driven by Long, and dragged to his death.
Long, of College Piece in Mortimer, was sentenced to 16 years, while Cole, from Paices Hill, Aldermaston, Reading, and Bowers, of Windmill Corner, Mortimer Common, Reading, were each handed 13-year terms.
On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that it has been asked to consider if the jail terms handed down are too lenient.
Henry Long, 19, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, who were convicted over the killing
PC Harper’s mother Debbie Adlam welcomed the move and described it as the ‘right thing to do’.
She added the family were let down by the ‘unduly lenient’ original sentences, which she described as being ‘criminal’.
She said: ‘We’ve been hoping something would change. Not really knowing whether we would hear anything – we certainly didn’t expect to hear anything so soon.
‘We walked out from the court two weeks on the trot just feeling so let down. Andrew deserves so much better.
‘And we can’t bring him back but all we can do is try and hope that there’s something better to give him the justice he deserves, and give us some kind of closure.’
Asked what sentence would be appropriate for her son’s killers, she said: ‘I don’t think there’s any sentence (that would be appropriate).
‘Losing Andrew has just been above and beyond what we could even imagine. It’s just knocked us sideways.
‘The case just hasn’t brought justice for him. The wider public has made that very obvious – they are all very angry and police officers deserve better than has been received in this case.’
Asked if she would use the phrase ‘unduly lenient’ to describe the sentences, she added: ‘We really felt that.