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Killing of PC Andrew Harper 'completely senseless', court told Killing of PC Andrew Harper 'completely senseless', court told
(32 minutes later)
Police officer died in ‘truly shocking circumstances’, prosecutor tells Old Bailey juryPolice officer died in ‘truly shocking circumstances’, prosecutor tells Old Bailey jury
PC Andrew Harper was dragged for more than a mile along a road resulting in his death in “truly shocking circumstances”, a court has heard. A police officer was killed in “truly shocking circumstances” when he was dragged for more than a mile along a road by three people trying to steal a quad bike, a court has heard.
Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that the alleged murder of the 28-year-old constable was “a completely senseless killing”. Andrew Harper, 28, a police constable with Thames Valley Police, died on 15 August last year of “catastrophic, unsurvivable injuries” after his feet became lassoed in a strap attached to a car driven by one of the defendants.
Harper died from multiple injuries after responding to the reported theft of a quad bike from a home near the village of Sulhamstead in Berkshire. Three teenagers – two 17-year-olds who cannot be named and 18-year-old Henry Long – deny Harper’s murder. Long, from Mortimer, Reading, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. They have all admitted conspiracy to steal a quad bike.
Henry Long, 18, from Mortimer, Reading, and two 17-year-olds who cannot be named all deny murdering the Thames Valley police officer in August last year. Opening the case for the prosecution at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Brian Altman QC said: “With his ankles caught in a strap that was trailing behind a car being driven at speed along a country lane, he was dragged for over a mile along the road surface, swung from side to side like a pendulum in an effort to dislodge him, losing items of his police uniform along the way, with the rest of his uniform being quite literally ripped and stripped from his body.
Altman told jurors: “Late at night on Thursday 15 August of last year in Berkshire, 28-year-old Andrew Harper, a serving police constable of Thames Valley police, was killed in truly shocking circumstances. “When, at last, he became disentangled, he was left with the most awful injuries, from which he died there on the road, surrounded by colleagues who tried in vain to save him.”
“With his ankles caught in a strap that was trailing behind a car being driven at speed along a country lane, he was dragged for over a mile along the road surface, swung from side to side like a pendulum in an effort to dislodge him, losing items of his police uniform along the way, with the rest of his uniform being quite literally ripped and stripped from his body. The jury heard that he died naked apart from his socks and boots and some shredded remnants of the trousers he was wearing. “This was a completely senseless killing of a young police officer in the line of duty,” said Altman.
“When at last he became disentangled, he was left with the most awful injuries, from which he died there on the road, surrounded by colleagues who tried in vain to save him.” Harper became entangled in the strap as he and a colleague confronted the three defendants on a country lane near the village of Sulhamstead in Berkshire, after responding to a call about the reported theft of the quad bike, even though it was past the end of their shift.
Harper was left wearing only his socks and boots and with injuries that were unsurvivable, the court heard. “As [Henry] Long floored the Seat car to make good their escape, PC Harper was lassoed around his ankles by the loop of his strap,” said Altman. “It is the prosecution case that Long drove that car knowing full well that PC Harper was entangled in the strap, as he drove in a manner calculated to dislodge him, and to make good their escape, as had been the plan all along.”
“This was a completely senseless killing of a young police officer in the line of duty,” Altman said. The court heard that Long drove the car along the country lane at an average speed of 42.5mph. Altman said the attempts to dislodge the officer were evidenced by the “snaking trail of apparent tyre marks, abrasion and scuff marks, blood and body matter left behind on the road surface, as well as personal items and clothing that were ripped from PC Harper”.
Long has admitted manslaughter, which the younger defendants deny. All three have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal a quad bike. The car then pulled onto the A4, where another driver had to slam on his breaks to avoid hitting it. “At first [the other driver] thought there was a bloodied deer attached to the car, but quickly realised it was a person, trapped by both ankles, being dragged around the road and striking the kerb,” said Altman.
Several members of Harper’s family were in court as the prosecution case opened. The trial continues. The prosecution said the idea that the three teenagers did not know Harper had become entangled was ludicrous. “It is not difficult to imagine the screaming and shouting that must have taken place inside that car about what was unfolding,” said Altman.
The trial continues.