No change in jail terms for policeman’s killers
A JUDGE has refused to extend Pc Andrew Harper’s teenage killers’ “lenient” sentences.
The decision yesterday (Wednesday) caused further heartache for his devastated widow.
However, in a crumb of comfort, defence pleas to lessen the jail terms were also rejected.
The Court of Appeal dismissed challenges by the Attorney General and the trio, ruling that their sentences will remain the same.
Henry Long, 19, from College Piece, Mortimer, was sentenced to 16 years and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were handed 13 years in July over the death of the Thames Valley Police traffic officer.
Pc Harper, 28, was caught in a 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 in Stanford Dingley on the night of August 15, 2019.
Long – the leader of the group – admitted manslaughter, while passengers Cole and Bowers, from Paices Hill, Aldermaston, and Windmill Corner, Mortimer Common, respectively, were convicted of manslaughter after a trial at the Old Bailey.
All three were cleared of murder by the jury, which deliberated for more than 12 hours.
At a hearing in November, Attorney General Suella Braverman said the trio’s sentences should be increased, for an offence that was “as serious a case of manslaughter as it is possible to envisage”. But lawyers representing Long, Cole and Bowers, who appeared by video link from HMP Belmarsh, argued that their sentences were too long and should be reduced.
Yesterday morning, Dame Victoria Sharp – sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice William Davis – dismissed the Attorney General’s application to increase the trio’s sentences.
The decision was branded “disappointing” by Pc Harper’s widow Lissie, who is campaigning for Harper’s Law, where those who kill emergency workers would be jailed for life.
In a statement, she said: “I am of course disappointed with this outcome and ultimately feel, along with the Attorney General and the majority of our country, that these sentences are far too lenient, that they do not reflect the severity and barbarity of the crimes they committed. I continue to feel let down by our justice system and the inadequate laws that we have in place.”
The Court of Appeal also rejected Long, Cole and Bowers’ appeals against their sentences for manslaughter as “wholly unarguable”.
Cole and Bowers had also sought to appeal against their convictions for Pc Harper’s manslaughter, but this was also rejected as being “wholly unarguable”.
The Court of Appeal did reduce the sentences imposed on the pair for conspiracy to steal, from 38 months’ detention to an 18-month detention and training order given their ages at the time of the offence.
However, Dame Victoria said: “This does not affect the sentences for manslaughter and, because the sentences were concurrent, it does not affect the overall length of the sentences.”
She added: “The effect of our decision is that all three offenders remain convicted of the manslaughter of Pc Harper and the overall length of their custodial sentences remain unaltered.”
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice after last month’s hearing, Mrs Harper said: “I stand before you with my heart as heavy as it was those many months ago when I stood feeling let down and angry outside of the Old Bailey.
“Yet today I feel pride in myself for not settling for something that I see as unacceptable.
“Proud to fight for my heroic husband Andrew, as I also continue to push for the safety and justice of his fellow emergency service protectors in the future.
“Today has been as harrowing as you can all expect, however we leave this court with at least a sense of balance.
“Reaching a step closer to a fair outcome is something that I have strived towards for a long time.
“We have all hoped and prayed that our beloved boy’s death will not go improperly unpunished.
“So we continue with our agonising battle for justice, a journey that we have had to endure for too long.”
At the hearing in November, Mrs Braverman told the court: “Pc Harper paid the ultimate price for his bravery and this should be reflected in the sentence.”
Referring to Long’s sentence, Mrs Braverman said: “A life sentence was the appropriate sentence for the first offender, who was and remains dangerous… if not in a case such as this, then when?”
Rossano Scamardella QC, representing Long, said Pc Harper’s death was the result of “a freakish accident” after he became attached to the back of the car, adding: “There was no intentional application of force or violence… there was no intent whatsoever to cause serious bodily harm or death.”
Timothy Raggatt QC, representing Bowers, said: “The idea that these sentences could be described as unduly lenient… is, to be blunt, far-fetched in the extreme.”
After yesterday’s Court of Appeal ruling, Pc Harper’s mother Debbie Adlam posted on the Harper’s Law Facebook page: “So the appeal result is that all appeals have been rejected.
“We are obviously disappointed but either way this would not bring back Andrew to us.
“We know nothing could ever make that happen and that’s what we would wish for the most.
“From Andrew’s family we thank you all for your support and hope you all have a peaceful and safe Christmas.
“And remember his colleagues and other officers who are still out there looking after us the best they can despite everything.”