The Times - UK (2020-08-01)

the times | Saturday August 1 2020 1GM 21

News

The widow of PC Andrew Harper
described her “endless world of numb
despair” as the ringleader of the gang
that dragged him to his death was
sentenced to 16 years in jail yesterday.
Lissie Harper, 29, wept while telling
the Old Bailey of the “pain, torture and
hopelessness” she had endured since
her husband was killed four weeks after
their wedding.
Henry Long, 19, who drove the car as
he and two accomplices fled after try-
ing to steal a quad bike, was told he
would not be considered for release
until he had served ten years and eight
months of his manslaughter sentence.
His passengers, Albert Bowers and
Jessie Cole, both 18, were sentenced to
13 years, also for manslaughter, and sent
to a young offender institute. They must
serve at least two thirds of their terms.
The gangs’ relatives gasped as the sen-
tences were handed down. Mrs Harper’s
mother, Julie Beckett, clapped slowly.
A group of 20 MPs led by Sir John
Hayes and including Theresa Villiers, a
former cabinet minister, have written
to Suella Braverman, the attorney-gen-
eral, asking for the case to be referred to
the Court of Appeal and urging her to
recommend life imprisonment.
John Apter, chairman of the Police
Federation of England and Wales, said
yesterday that the outcome was “not
justice”. He added: “The killing of a
police officer should see those responsi-
ble face the rest of their lives in prison.”

P

olice in coastal

towns set up

roadblocks and

councils warned

day-trippers to stay

away from beaches yesterday

on Britain’s third-hottest day

on record (Tom Ball writes).

The Met Office confirmed

that the peak temperature of

37.8C (100F) was recorded at

2.41pm at Heathrow airport.

Parts of the north enjoyed

fine weather too, with

temperatures climbing above

30C in York and Manchester.

Yesterday’s heat easily

surpassed temperatures on

the Costa del Sol in Spain.

More than 100,000 people

flocked to Bournemouth

beach, where temperatures

were about 28C.

Dorset police set up

roadblocks and turned

visitors away to prevent a

repeat of the chaos in

Bournemouth on the

previous hottest day of the

year, when 33.4C was

recorded on June 25. On that

day a major incident was

declared by the emergency

services after three men

were stabbed.

Seafront car parks were

full from 10am and traffic

jams snaked back 15 miles

along the A338 and A31

heading into the resort.

A smartphone app

launched by Bournemouth,

Christchurch and Poole

council, which alerted

visitors when sections of the

seven mile-long beach were

overcrowded, showed that

virtually the entire stretch

was full by lunchtime. It

advised day-trippers to stay

away as social distancing was

not possible.

Superintendent Richard

Bell, of Dorset police, said

officers were patrolling the

beaches to ensure that

visitors were keeping safe.

Similar action was taken at

beauty spots and beaches

elsewhere. Brighton and

Hove city council said it was

concerned about visitor

numbers in the city, urging

people to not travel there

because it was impossible to

maintain social distancing.

Forecast, page 77

Beach roadblocks as

temperature hits 100F

Lyme Regis beach in Dorset

was packed; the sun shone on

Whitby, North Yorkshire; and

ice cream was lapped up

New

Ly meRegisbeachin Dorset

ANDREW MCCAREN/LNP; GRAHAM HUNT/BNPS

secretary, after the men were cleared of

murder on Friday last week, urging

them to intervene and “to right such a

despicable wrong for our country”.

When trying to arrest the gang on

August 15 last year, PC Harper became

tangled in a tow strap behind their car.

He suffered terrible injuries as he was

pulled along winding country roads for

more than a mile. His mother, Deborah

Adlam, described the “agony” of having

her first-born son, who was 28, “ripped

from us”. She told the court: “Can you

imagine a loved one dying with such in-

dignity? I have sat in the mortuary of

my son’s covered body, too damaged for

me to see.”

Long admitted manslaughter and

the others were convicted of the same

offence after a retrial. The original trial

was halted because of the lockdown.

Thomas King, 21, from Basingstoke,

Hampshire, who admitted conspiracy

to steal, was jailed for two years.

The gang had planned the raid from

the Four Houses Corner travellers’ site

in Burghfield Common, Berkshire, and

were found there after PC Harper’s

Mrs Harper told of her “torment over

the children that will never come to be”

and urged the judge not to let “the sacri-

fice that he was forced and unknowing-

ly made to give stand for nothing”.

“Four weeks was all I had to call him

my husband, four weeks to be called his

wife,” she added. “My life often feels

bleak, hopeless, irreparable. My deso-

late nights bring no rest, no time for re-

prieve from this utter turmoil.”

Mrs Harper, who had met her hus-

band at school, had written to Boris

Johnson and to Priti Patel, the home

Police officer’s teenage killers jailed

David Brown

death. They were described as “com-

mitted thieves”.

Mr Justice Edis told the men they had

“killed a talented and brave young

police officer” having “deliberately de-

cided to expose any police officer who

got in your way to a risk of death”. He

added: “You decided that your freedom

to commit crime was more important

than his life. That was not a spur of the

moment decision: when confronted by

him you carried out a pre-agreed plan.

That is a very wicked calculation... I re-

ject the contention that any of you has

shown anything resembling remorse.

“Nothing which I can do, or could

have done if there had been a convic-

tion for murder, can restore Andrew

Harper to his loving wife and family, or

to the public he served so well.”

PC Harper’s family did not discuss

the sentence as they left court.

Lissie Harper wept as she told the Old

Bailey of her feelings of “hopelessness”

T

he killers of PC

Andrew Harper

had a lifestyle

“based on

criminality” and

thought they were

untouchable, the

detective who led the

hunt for them has said

(David Brown writes).

Detective

Superintendent Stuart

Blaik strongly criticised

the tight-knit Traveller

community that failed to

assist police despite the

horrific circumstances of

the officer’s death.

Villagers in the

prosperous area of

Berkshire had described

being tormented by the

gang, who committed

burglaries and vandalism

and sped around the

narrow country lanes.

Mr Blaik described his

frustration at the lack of

co-operation from the

community. Henry Long,

19, the leader of the gang,

“admitted they had been

thieving most days”, Mr

Blaik said. “Their lifestyle

was based on their

criminality. Long said his

grandfather was a thief

and his father was a thief

and he has followed in

their footsteps and that’s

how he funds his life.”

The raid that led to PC

Harper’s death had been

meticulously planned at

the Four Houses Corner

Travellers’ site in

Burghfield Common,

Berkshire. The gang

returned to the site,

which is run by West

Berkshire council, after

dragging the young

officer to his death.

“None of them lived on

that particular site but

they had strong family

connections and it was

certainly the focal point

of where their criminality

started and finished,” Mr

Blaik said.

He added that the

police had received no

help from the Traveller

community. “We knew it

was going to be difficult

and it proved very

difficult,” he said. “The

lack of support has

frustrated what we were

trying to do.”

When Long was

arrested after the getaway

car was found at the Four

Houses Corner site he

complained that he was a

victim of discrimination

against Travellers, the

court was told.

Travellers

protected

guilty men