The caravan site where suspects in PC Andrew Harper’s killing hid has been demolished after a £4.2m regeneration project.
Andrew and Lissie married at Ardington House in Oxfordshire just before his death. On their wedding day, he sent her a card with the message, “Life is slippery. Here, take my hand.”
Andrew Harper was a police officer in Berkshire, working in roads and traffic. The incident occurred in a rural area. His wife described him as heroic, selfless, and beautiful, saying the loss was a life sentence for her.
Harper died at 28 after getting tangled in a tow rope trailing behind a getaway car. He was the first officer killed on duty since 2017, when Keith Palmer died at Westminster.
Harper and a colleague went to a suspected burglary around 11:30 pm on August 15, 2019. He exited his police car and was struck by a car at a crossroads near Sulhamstead, close to the A4 Bath Road.
He fell under the car and was dragged a “considerable” distance while caught in the tow rope. A post-mortem revealed he died from multiple injuries. Police suspected he was dragged by the car on the road.
Police arrested ten suspects, aged 13 to 30, from a nearby site called Four Houses Corner, a local authority-run caravan site.
Four people were arrested on suspicion of Harper’s murder. Henry Long, Albert Bowers, and Jessie Cole appeared in court. Later, another man, aged 21, was arrested at a camp near Basingstoke. Jed Foster was also charged, but those charges were later dropped.
Long, Bowers, and Cole were not found guilty of murder after the jury deliberated for two days. Bowers and Cole were convicted of manslaughter, while Long had already admitted to manslaughter. All three admitted to conspiring to steal the quad bike.
During the trial, they smirked. Bowers fell asleep during footage of Harper’s death. The prosecutor described the killing as senseless. Harper’s uniform was ripped from his body, and he suffered awful injuries. He died at the scene while simply doing his job.