An online petition that is calling for anyone who is convicted of killing an emergency worker to spend the rest of their lives behind bars has now reached 500,000 signatures.
Lissie Harper, the widow of PC Andrew Harper, is due to meet the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, later this month to talk about the need to ensure that anyone who is convicted of killing an emergency worker spends the rest of their life behind bars.
PC Andrew Harper was killed on 15th August last year after he was dragged behind a car for 1.4 miles at an average speed of 42.5 mph.
PC Harper and his colleague, PC Andrew Shaw, were heading back to their police station, having already worked several hours of overtime, before clocking off when a distressed home-owner called 999 after he saw three armed & masked men raiding his property.
PC Harper and PC Shaw rushed to the scene and confronted Henry Long, Jesse Cole and Albert Bowers as they tried to leave the area whilst towing a stolen £10,000 quad bike.
As PC Shaw spun his police vehicle around, PC Andrew Harper lept from the car and ran after Jesse Cole who had been steering the stolen quad bike as it was being towed behind a Seat Leon that was being driven by ‘career criminal’ Henry Long.
PC Harper’s ankle became stuck in the stolen crane strop that was being used to tow the stolen quad bike.
Long, Bowers and Cole were all found guilty of the manslaughter of PC Harper, but after various ‘discounts’ were applied to their sentences, then they could be out of prison in under ten years.
Talking about the petition, Lissie said:
‘We are calling for #HarpersLaw.
‘The creation of this law would mean anyone found guilty of killing a police officer, firefighter, nurse, doctor, prison officer or paramedic would be jailed for life.
‘When emergency services workers are killed on duty, then it hits right at the heart of our democracy.
‘We ask police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, prison officers and paramedics to go out there and keep the Queen’s peace on behalf of society. We ask them to save people’s lives. We ask them to protect us.
‘So society must offer the greatest protection for those dedicated public servants who are killed protecting it.
‘That is what Harper’s Law would provide. An appropriate deterrent and a suitable punishment.
‘The law must be changed. We want to work with the Government, politicians of all parties and the fantastic British public on this.
‘We must protect the protectors.
‘That is why we need Harper’s Law’.
Speaking about the 500k signature milestone, Lissie said:
“We clearly have the backing of the public and I am stunned, delighted and incredibly thankful to all.”
PC Harper and Lissie had been married just over four weeks when he was killed. They were due to go on their honeymoon the week after the officer was killed.
The sentences handed down to Long, Bowers and Cole have been referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme.
CLICK HERE to add your name to the petition
If you have a story you want to tell, or video you want to share, send it to Emergency Services News via contact@emergency-services.news
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for more news, videos, blogs and stories: @ES_News_
Can you help Emergency Services News?
We when set our website up in November 2018, we had a straightforward mission: to bring our readers factual stories, which are free from negative bias but which are enriched with qualified experience.
Each member of our in-house team of writers has served in either the armed forces, emergency services or NHS.
This means that we can bring our readers not only the stories which matter but also stories without the negative spin.
But we cannot do this without your help. As ad revenue – the staple income of most publishers – continues to fluctuate, then we need the help of our supporters and readers more than ever.
Become a donor: You can make a one-off or reoccurring donation via Paypal. CLICK HERE to become a donor
We would like to thank you in advance for your continued support.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
