‘This is not justice – even the judge said they could kill again’: Friend of PC Andrew Harper says

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A businessman who gave PC Andrew Harper his first job as a teenager said he is devastated by the light sentence handed down to his three killers. 

Andrew Ledbury, 59, employed Andrew Harper in his Oxfordshire roofing business when he was 18 and before he had joined the police force. 

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Ledbury said today’s sentence has caused great anger locally among PC Harper’s family and friends. 

He said: ‘I am absolutely disgusted by the sentencing handed down today. I always thought this was murder. The sentence to me was a real shock. This is not justice for Andrew or his family. I am devastated by this result.

‘I think the CPS should look into this. By the judges own word, he said they were likely to kill again. But this sentence is too lenient.’

Mr Ledbury said Henry Long, 19, who received 16 years and  Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, who were jailed for 13 years, showed ‘absolutely no remorse’ during the trial.’ 

‘They appealed to the jurors, they said they were sorry for Andrew’s death, but there were no facts or evidence to back this up. They appeared to be proud of what they have done. They have led a life of crime since they were 15 and the will go back to it when they are released.’

‘This has made a prolonged assault on Andrew.’

Mr Ledbury praised Thames Valley Police for the work they did in investigating PC Harper’s death, but he described the timing of the sentencing hearing as especially difficult.  

‘This is a fortnight after the anniversary of his wedding and a fortnight before the anniversary of the murder. It is devastating for the family. 

‘The judge has handed down a sentence which will see them serving just 10 or 12 years. The judge said they will kill again. How can  he have handed them such a light sentence. They will be still young men when they get out of prison with their entire lives ahead.

‘Andrew’s family have been handed a life sentence. We have all relived the horror of what has happened.’

Mr Ledbury said PC Harper was especially proud of his role as a police officer. He said: ‘Who knows what he would have done in the police force. He had a great sense of humour and the kindest person you could ever meet. His job was catching criminals and making the streets safer. Andrew would never have shied away from his duty.

‘The sentence has betrayed his family, friends, the police force and the public. Lots of people feel very aggrieved.’

Mr Ledbury said he had known PC Harper since he left school. 

‘I had a roofing business, he came to work for me there. He was dependable, reliable. He was a great member of a team. Didn’t matter what he had to do. I had a tremendous amount of admiration to him.

‘He always wanted to be a policeman, which resulted on some ribbing on building sites, but he took that with good humour. He was very popular with everyone.

‘I was immensely proud of him turning up at my nursery in his police car and uniform when he came to give some advice on an issue.

‘He was dedicated to the job, the force and his colleagues. We are reliving this whole thing. I have nothing but admiration for his family. They must be at a loss at how this ended up with such a ridiculously light sentence.’  

Superintendent Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation, said Henry Long, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers had shown ‘not an ounce of remorse’ as they were jailed for 16 years and 13 years respectively.

It means two of the three thugs who killed the police constable as they tried to steal a quad bike will be back on the streets in just eight years. The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life with a term of 24 years.

Those following the case reacted with anger to the sentences on social media, with Sharyn Carr writing: ‘Absolutely disgusting, no justice for him, his family or his beautiful wife. Another failing by the system.’

Speaking outside court Supt Blaik said: ‘Today we have some justice for Andrew Harper and those responsible for his death are going to prison… they have not shown an ounce of remorse. These men represented self-interest, greed and utter recklessness.’ 

Earlier his widow Lissie Harper, 28, broke down twice as she revealed how she had ‘screamed and cried every day’ since losing her husband just four weeks into their marriage.

In a heart-breaking victim impact statement she said: ‘I have used every word in my vocabulary to describe the pain, torture and hopelessness that I feel, I have written poems and letters and messages of love and devastation over the indescribable trauma that I have been forced to endure these past 11 months.

‘I have screamed and cried and broken down in fractured defeat and yet when it is this moment that I am asked to explain my impacted life that the hollowness of loss truly appears. 

‘My husband was brutally killed four weeks after our wedding day… What impact has this had on my life? Need I repeat the devastating details and the cruelty in which this occurred? Should I speak again of how we were robbed of our future? Of the plans that were stolen from us? Should I describe my torment over the children that will never come to be? Or like so many people are these heartbreaking details etched into your mind in the shattering way that they will forever remain in mine?

‘Four weeks was all I had to call him my husband, four weeks to be called his wife. My life often feels bleak, hopeless, irreparable. My desolate nights bring no rest, no time for reprieve from this utter turmoil.

‘Every aspect of my life since Andrew was taken is bitterly different. Every moment of my life before Andrew was taken was imprinted with his love and his presence. A fact in which I alone can only truly understand.

‘So not only did these men take my true, beautiful love away from me, not only did they rob a brother, son, uncle and friend from all who love him, but they took our future too. They took more than one life away that day.

They stole the person that I used to be, the happiness that we shared and the beautiful plans we had made together. That night as I opened the door to the stranger in uniform before me, everything I had known in my life to be true was robbed away.’ 

Mrs Harper had previously slammed the jury’s ‘utterly shocking and appalling’ decision to clear her husband’s killers of murder over his death. 

She has called on the Government to order a retrial in the hope of getting a murder conviction based on ‘suspected jury interference’. 

Newlywed PC Harper, 28, died as he tried to stop the three thieves from stealing the quad bike in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, on August 15 last year.

But as he tried to stop the trio, his ankles were lassoed by a trailing loading strap from their car as the teenagers tried to escape. He was towed helplessly for over a mile behind the Seat Toledo as it reached speeds of 60mph. 

The judge Mr Justice Edis today described the killers as ‘young, unintelligent but professional criminals’ and rejected claims by defence barristers’ that they had showed any remorse. 

Describing the gravity of their crimes, he said: ‘Manslaughter cases range greatly in seriousness. Sometimes death may be caused by an act of gross carelessness, sometimes it is very close to a case of murder in its seriousness. That is so, here.’ 

He took the unusual step of addressing ‘controversy’ over the jury’s decision to find three teenagers not-guilty of murder, amid concerns they were being subject to ‘improper pressure’.

The judge said that ‘to the best of my knowledge’ there was ‘no truth’ to the claims.

Because the defendants were convicted of manslaughter, not murder the maximum sentence the judge could impose was 24 years. 

Getaway driver Long, 19, was told he would have received the full sentence if he had been ‘a few years older’ – but it was reduced to 16 year due to his age.

Long must now serve 10 years and 8 months before being considered for release.

Bowers and Cole, both 18, were ‘not ringleaders’, the judge said, so the starting point for their sentences was 20 years. 

This was reduced to 13 due to their age and because they both have learning difficulties. This means they will be eligible for release in eight years.

Mr Justice Edis said his role was to impose a jail term that reflected ‘the seriousness of this case and protects the public’.

He 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 added: ‘In better language, 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.’

The judge said none of the defendants had ‘any real education’, and said they had been ‘taken out of school far too young’. 

Long glanced up briefly to members of his family in the public gallery as he was sentenced. Cole kept his head bowed. Bowers appeared shocked as the sentences were returned.  

Some supporters of the defendants wept and gasped as the judge announced his decision. Mrs Harper’s mother, Julie Beckett, applauded at the conclusion of the hearing. 

A fourth defendant, Thomas King, 21, from Basingstoke, had admitted conspiracy to steal a quad bike and was sentenced to two years in prison today. 

He was not directly involved in the incident which led to PC Harper’s death.

A second victim impact statement from the officer’s mother Deborah Adlam was read to the court.

‘I am unable to explain the enormity of what I’m feeling and have been struggling with since we were awoken on August 15 2019 at 4.45am to the worst news imaginable,’ she said. 

‘He died because these defendants chose to steal a quad bike. My family and I feel broken – can you imagine a loved one dying with such indignity?’ 

Mrs Adlam added in her victim impact statement read to the court about the death of her son PC Harper: ‘He was our first-born child and he has been ripped from me.

‘I haven’t been able to work for fear of breaking down, my mind just isn’t in the right place, my anxiety is overpowering.

‘I hardly sleep… I have no motivation or even daily routine – chores or cooking a meal, it just feels pointless now.

‘I have sat in the mortuary of my son’s covered body, too damaged for me to see. He will never get to be called ‘daddy’ or hold his own child – we imagined this was not too far away in the future.

‘Andrew was such a good man, a brave, a caring person, funny and uplifting. I love and miss him daily with every passing moment. He will be loved forever.’ 

PC Harper’s sister Aimee also addressed the court, saying: I’m sure you already understand how utterly impossible it would be to convey the vast implications that Andrew’s death has had on mine and my family’s life.

‘I never imagined that in my lifetime I would have to face such raw darkness, just knowing the bare minimum of details about my brother’s death has been enough to haunt my dreams and make me constantly afraid for my family.

‘I don’t think that’s something I will ever recover from. My already severe anxiety has worsened, I’m constantly sleep deprived and low. It affects my day-to-day life and at this point it is difficult to see an end to.’ 

Judge Edis called the family’s statements ‘very moving’.   

Long, Cole and Bowers had celebrated after they were declared not guilty of murder last Friday, while Bowers and Cole were seen laughing while leaving Reading Magistrates’ Court during an earlier hearing in 2019. 

But today, Long’s defence barrister, Rossano Scamardella QC, insisted her client had ‘accepted responsibility’ for his role in the officer’s death.

Mr Scamardella told the Old Bailey it had been reported in the press that all of the defendants were ‘badly behaved’ during the trial.

He said: ‘Henry Long, we do not agree behaved badly during the trial.

‘What we do remember from the trial is Henry Long’s remorse about what he felt. We suggest his remorse is genuine.’    

At the start of today’s hearing, Mr Justice Edis addressed the court about claims the jury had been intimidated during the trial. 

He said: ‘These verdicts have caused some controversy.

‘I have deliberately avoided reading or viewing reports of the case and comment on it, because I have a duty to do justice in accordance with the law and the evidence which I have heard.

‘However, 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.’ 

None of the Harper family commented outside court today. 

Meanwhile, Supt Blaik, of Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit, said his death highlighted the constant risks and dangers that officers face while on duty. 

He added a review of risk management around similar incidents would be undertaken following the ‘catastrophic’ event.

‘What (the incident) has done is highlighted the dangers that police officers face up and down the country,’ he said. 

‘Our case has never been that these three, Long, Bowers and Cole, had set out that night to seriously injure or kill a police officer.

‘But it’s their criminality that has brought them and the police together.

‘We accept that policing is a risky business and there are always risks involved in confronting criminality, but this should never have happened.

‘Of course we are very sad by the events and we are going to review risk management around incidents like this.’    

The verdicts declaring Long, Cole and Bowers not guilty of murder last Friday were met with anguish from the victim’s widow, who said she was ‘utterly shocked and appalled’ at the decision not to convict the teenagers of murder. 

She added: ‘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.’

Mrs Harper then called on the Government to intervene, despite a retrial being both extremely unusual and unlikely. 

In an open letter posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday evening, she wrote to Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Priti Patel and former Labour Home Secretary Lord (David) Blunkett urging them and others ‘to right such a despicable wrong for our country’.

‘I implore you to hear my words, see the facts that are laid out before us, and I ask with no expectations other than hope that you might help me to make these changes be considered, to ensure that Andrew is given the retrial that he unquestionably deserves and to see that the justice system in our country is the solid ethical foundation that it rightly should be.

‘Not the joke that so many of us now view it to be.’

Mrs Harper’s anger was shared by the policeman’s mother, Ms Adlam, who wrote: ‘Andrew James Harper is my son. I am disgusted that he has been let down.

‘When they crossed the junction on A4 there’s no way they did not know he was there being thrown against the pavements.

‘Utterly and bitterly disgusted with the outcome. Andrew went to work to serve us all. And this is how he was repaid.’

Despite Mrs Harper’s plea, the Prime Minister does not the power to order retrials. 

Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the Director of Public Prosecutions would have to consent to an investigation being reopened, and this would have to include ‘new and compelling’ evidence that was not available for the original prosecution.

Responding to Mrs Harper’s letter, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister’s thoughts are with the family and friends of PC Harper and they have his every sympathy for their loss.

‘The bravery which PC Harper showed in intercepting those criminals is a reminder of the risks our police officers face every day to keep us safe.

‘His courage, dedication and professionalism represents the very best of our police – and of all of us. The Prime Minister will respond to Mrs Harper’s letter formally once legal proceedings have concluded.’ 

Responding to the sentencing today, Jaswant Kaur Narwal, chief Crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern, said: ‘Our deepest sympathies remain with Pc Harper’s family who we know are unhappy with the verdict.

‘The jury can only convict if they are certain beyond reasonable doubt, having heard all the evidence, and we respect their decision.

‘Long, Bowers and Cole’s criminal actions resulted in the needless death of a brave, young man who was killed in the line of duty, and they will spend a total of 42 years in prison for that.’ 

It is almost exactly a year since PC Harper and his colleague PC Andrew Shaw responded to a report of a stolen quad bike from a property in Stanford Dingley. It was four hours after his shift was due to finish, though the pair were in the area so wanted to help.

They soon came nose-to-nose with the thieves towing the £10,000 Honda quadbike in Admoor Lane, prompting PC Harper to get out of the police car and chase Cole, who had unhooked the rope between the Seat Toledo getaway vehicle and the stolen Honda.

Cole dived into the Seat, past PC Harper’s grasp, prompting Long to make off at speeds of 42.5mph, carrying the stricken policeman behind for 91 seconds.

His uniform was stripped away and he was found by colleagues unconscious and barely alive in Ufton Lane near the A4 moments later.

Despite attempts to save him, he died at the scene.

The getaway vehicle was later tracked to the nearby Four Houses Corner caravan site.

Following his arrest, Long – who later admitted manslaughter – concocted a false alibi that he had been watching the racing film Fast And Furious at the time.

But an examination of mobile phone data eventually placed all the defendants – members of the travelling community – in the Seat.

Their defence claimed the incident was a ‘freak event’ that none of them could have planned or foreseen.

But the prosecution said at more than 6ft and weighing 14 stone, the defendants must have been aware PC Harper was being dragged to his death. 

The ‘gentle giant country boy who loved his food’: How newlywed PC Andrew Harper was dragged to death four hours after his shift was meant to end because of his determination to help and protect the public

Mark Duell for MailOnline 

He was ‘the gentle giant with a heart of gold’.

The ‘country boy’ who loved his food.

The newlywed police officer who died in the line of duty – more than four hours after his shift was due to finish – because he had a hardwired determination to help and protect.

Andrew Harper and his childhood sweetheart Lissie should have been spending the end of summer 2019 on honeymoon in the Maldives.

Instead, the new Mrs Harper was left facing the rest of her life without her partner of 13 years, after he was killed while responding to an emergency call on August 15 – four weeks after the pair tied the knot.

Andrew Harper was born on March 22 1991, to parents Philip and Debbie, and grew up in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, a big brother to siblings Sean and Aimee.

He joined Thames Valley Police as a 19-year-old in 2010, first as a special constable and then as a full-time regular officer the following year.

He was more than 6ft tall, weighed 14 stone, and had size 14 feet.

But his kind and selfless demeanour saw him described by his wife at his funeral service as ‘a gentle giant with a heart of gold’.

‘Our superman, our bodyguard, our light in the dark,’ Mrs Harper said in a tribute to her husband days after his death.

‘My God, we will miss you. Forever you will be remembered as the best of us.’

Together, the couple enjoyed spending time outdoors, going on long walks and bike rides, and exploring new places.

At the time of his death, PC Harper was raising money for children with cancer, setting an initial sponsorship target of £500 for his participation in a 20-mile obstacle course.

Within weeks of his death, the total exceeded £300,000.

Colleagues recalled PC Harper’s love of food, infectious smile and sense of humour.

His colleague, Pc Jordan Johnstone, told mourners at the 28-year-old’s funeral: ‘I remember Harps’ first day … He arrived in the office with a clean white hat, shiny boots and an incredible range of Tupperware.

‘We laughed, we joked and we never stopped smiling.’

But there was a serious side to PC Harper, demonstrated by him and his colleague deciding to respond to reports of a burglary in Bradfield Southend in Berkshire at 11.17pm on August 15 2019.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw told jurors that ‘despite it being well beyond the end of their shift, and because they were close and thought they could help’, the duo offered to attend the scene.

Mr Laidlaw described it as ‘going beyond the call of duty’.

It was to be PC Harper’s final case.

The depth of hurt caused by PC Harper’s death reverberated across Thames Valley Police, with officers forming an almost guard of honour as members of the jury visited the crime scene.

And so raw was the emotion for the family that jurors were not told about PC Harper’s status as a newlywed in case the weight of a widow’s grief was detrimental to the defendants.

Instead, members of PC Harper’s family watched on as three teenagers described their respective involvements in the death. 

Hare-coursing, attacking homes with fireworks and thievery: How illiterate cop-killing travellers brazenly documented their law-breaking on Facebook

By Mark Duell for MailOnline

Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, are facing years in jail for manslaughter over the death of PC Andrew Harper.

Newlywed PC Harper, 28, became entangled in a tow rope attached to their Seat Toledo as he tried to apprehend them in Berkshire last August. 

The teenagers admitted plotting the theft and Long pleaded guilty to manslaughter but each denied knowing that PC Harper was there.

All three were cleared of murder by an Old Bailey jury today which had deliberated for more than 12 hours, but Cole and Bowers were found guilty of manslaughter.

Here is a profile on each the killers, revealing how they documented their law-breaking in Facebook posts of hare-coursing and attacking homes with fireworks:

HENRY LONG (driver)

Fast and Furious loving driver: Illiterate hell-raiser, 19, with string of juvenile offences for violence and drunken disorder

Unable to read or write, Henry Long, 19, was taken out of school by his father after he got into trouble with teachers.

Aged 12 he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and began thieving, he told the jury.

Specialising in stealing quad-bikes and machinery, Long carried with him tools for breaking into sheds, and snapping metal chains and padlocks.

The career thief first spotted the quad-bike and drove the getaway car which dragged PC Andrew Harper to his death. He had a reputation among travellers as a good driver able to steer vehicles at break-neck speeds.

With the help of Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, he disguised his Seat Toledo by disabling the rear lights, covering the number plates with tape and removing any logos. Long was the ringleader, telling Bowers and Cole to ‘shut up’ and ‘turn the music up’ as he drove.

In cross examination Long came ‘perilously close’ to admitting he was enjoying the chase as it went on knowing PC Harper was being dragged behind him. 

He tried to convince jurors that, had he known the officer was behind him, he would have stopped and tried to save him.

While sat in the dock he laughed with Bowers and Cole as details of the horrific death were read out which reduced PC Harper’s widow to tears. At first he told the police: ‘I do not give a f*** about any of this’ when they arrested him for murder.

He lied and claimed he was watching Fast and Furious all night. But police managed to trace his mobile phone to the scene forcing him to change his story.

Throughout the trial he argued he could not hear or feel anything behind the car. Long has four convictions for five offences, all as a juvenile. He is convicted of two charges of battery, two counts of being drunk and disorderly and a further two offences of shop lifting.

ALBERT BOWERS (passenger)

Accomplice with passion for blood-sport: Racist thug, 18, who posed with dead hares on Facebook and fell asleep during trial 

Albert Bowers, 18, has a keen interest in the blood sport hare coursing.

Photographs from his Facebook account show the teenager holding pictures up of dead hares killed by his sighthound.

He had turned to waiting photographers and started to laugh following one of his first appearances at Reading Magistrates’ Court after the killing.

Even when PC Harper’s body was described as being like a ‘dear carcass’ Bowers, Long and Cole continued smirking in the dock.

His attention span lasted only 40 minutes and at one stage he fell asleep in the trial when the prosecution were show footage of the officer being dragged to his death.

In evidence he said he could not read or write and had to be supported by an intermediary. He left school in year six and occasionally worked as a landscape gardener while supporting himself by stealing.

Jurors heard he and Long were close friends who often went out together looking for property to take. They both knew the nearby roads well and used this knowledge of the terrain to try and evade the police.

Bowers has three convictions for five offences while a juvenile. 

He has been convicted of one count of criminal damage, one charge of sexual assault by touching, one offence of possessing an offensive weapon, one conviction for battery and one for a racially aggravated public order offence.

JESSIE COLE (passenger)

Tree-cutter, 18, who left school only able to spell his own name needed help from intermediary while he gave evidence at trial 

Jessie Cole, 18, claimed he had only recently met Bowers and Long.

He claimed he went out thieving with them and not on his own because he was scared.

Like the other two he cannot read or write and left school aged 14. He attended a college for boys with learning difficulties and by the time he dropped out he could just spell his name.

Since then he worked with his father as a tree-cutter in Reading, Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight earning up to £70 a day. In the weeks before the killing he worked with his father on the island before returning to live with his mother.

His parents had separated when he was 18-months-old. Cole said he was closer to his mother than his father. As with Bowers he was helped by an intermediary as he gave evidence.

Cole claimed he did not see PC Harper chasing him but dash-cam footage from the pursuing police car shows him turning towards the officer before he jumped through the Toledo window. He has no previous convictions.