Thames Valley Police pay tribute to PC Andrew Harper – three years after he was killed while on duty in West Berkshire

Thames Valley Police has paid tribute to PC Andrew Harper, on the anniversary of his death.

PC Harper, 28, was responding to reports of a quad bike theft in Stanford Dingley on the night he died – August 15, 2019.

The force, along with the Thames Valley Police Federation, paid tribute to the fallen officer on social media today (Monday).

Henry Long, 19, was jailed for 16 years and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were each jailed for 13 years for the manslaughter of the traffic officer.

PC Harper was caught in a crane strap attached to the back of a car driven by Long and dragged to his death down a winding country road as the trio fled the scene of a quad bike theft.

Long, from College Piece, Mortimer, admitted PC Harper’s manslaughter while Cole and Bowers – from Paices Hill, Aldermaston, and Windmill Corner, Mortimer Common, respectively – were both convicted of manslaughter after trial, with all three cleared of murder by an Old Bailey jury which deliberated for more than 12 hours.

The tragedy occurred just four weeks after his wedding.

Since his death his widow, Lissie, has campaigned tirelessly for a law which will give mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency workers.

Earlier this year Harper’s Law – which is part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – came into force.

It will also double the maximum penalty from 12 months to two years for criminals convicted of assaulting police or other emergency workers.