‘A cruelty I’ll never understand as I get older and you don’t’: Widow of slain PC Andrew Harper pays tribute to her ‘angel’ on her 32nd birthday, more than three years after he was killed
- Lissie Harper has called her husband’s death a ‘cruelty she cannot understand’
- PC Andrew Harper was killed in action in 2019 before his honeymoon
The widow of slain police officer Andrew Harper called his death a “cruelty she’ll never understand” on what would have been her 32nd birthday.
PC Harper died after sustaining serious injuries after he was caught on a leash tied to the back of a car and dragged down a rural Berkshire road by fleeing robbers trying to steal a quad bike in August 2019.
His death occurred just hours before he was due to leave and begin his honeymoon with his new wife, Lissie Harper, who has since successfully campaigned for harsher sentences for those who attack emergency workers.
Sharing a photo of her and her husband on Instagram, Lissie said: ‘Happy heavenly birthday my angel.
Lissie Harper has paid tribute to her late husband on what would have been his 32nd birthday
She called his death “a cruelty that I would never understand as I got older and he didn’t.”
PC Andrew Harper was killed in the line of duty just four weeks after their wedding.
These days never get easier with each passing year, but I’m trying to hold on to the amazing memories we shared.
You would have turned 32 today and I always put a lot of importance on your birthday, but today is a day I will try to get by.
A cruelty I’ll never understand as I get older and you don’t. I miss you, I love you x’
Ms Harper’s quest to change the law surrounding the sentencing of those who cause the deaths of emergency workers came “amid the incomprehensible grief and loss” and outrage over the sentences of the three teens to the that PC Harper had lost his life.
Of the three, the group’s leader, Henry Long, who was 19 at the time of sentencing, received 16 years and Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, 18, received 13 years in custody for the manslaughter of the traffic officer. Thames Valley Police.
Long, the leader of the group, admitted to manslaughter, while passengers Cole and Bowers were found guilty of manslaughter after a trial at the Old Bailey.
All three were acquitted of murder by the jury.
However, under the new Harper Act introduced last year, a mandatory life sentence is imposed on anyone who commits the manslaughter of an on-duty emergency worker, including police officers, corrections officers, firefighters and paramedics.
The law’s will is not retrospective, which means PC Harper’s killers cannot extend their sentences.
Handout issued by Thames Valley Police of Henry Long (left), Jessie Cole (centre) and Albert Bowers (right), aged 19 and 18, who were jailed for the death of the police traffic officer
PC Harper’s widow Lissie says she wants to ‘listen to her heart’ to embrace life again
Since the death of her husband, Ms. Harper has spoken passionately and bravely about how she deals with loss and widowhood.
Speaking on ITV’s The Killing of PC Harper: A Widow’s Fight for Justice last year, he said: “We went from the happiest day of our lives to the worst in such a short time.”
“I don’t think I will ever come to fully accept Andrew’s death, such an unexpected and shocking change in my life and the future we planned.
“But I plan to be grateful for every moment and live as Andrew wants me to be happy and listen to my heart.”
