Memorials held for PC Andrew Harper one year on from his death
Memorial services have been held for PC Andrew Harper, who was killed a year ago as he tried to stop three thieves fleeing with a quad bike.
On the first anniversary of his death, Thames Valley police officers gathered on Friday to honour the 28-year-old who died after being dragged more than a mile along country lanes by a getaway car near Stanford Dingley in Berkshire.
In Newbury, 20 officers gathered at a time outside the police station for two socially distanced memorials with both uniformed and non-uniformed staff attending.
Simultaneous services were also held in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and at a police training centre in Sulhamstead, attended by members of Harper’s family.
At the memorial in Newbury, Insp Al Hawkett told the officers: “We have all been deeply affected by Andrew’s death, whether we knew him personally or not. The senseless loss of a colleague is hard enough, but being newly married made his death all the more heartbreaking.
“Andrew was a brave young police officer, killed whilst doing the job that he loved.”
Hawkett said there would be “no sense of closure” for the officer’s family and friends. He added: “Andrew’s tragic death is something that will stay with all of us forever.”
The senior officer later read out a poem written by Harper’s widow, Lissie, before he placed a wreath at the base of a half-mast flag outside the station. In the poem she described her husband as “kind and strong without venom or greed” and said she was lucky to be his wife.
It continued: “They will remember you now, so honest and true. King among men, forever dressed in blue. You’re a hero now my boy don’t you see. The truth is my love, you always were to me, Lissie.”
In addition to the memorials, officers across the Thames Valley region held a minute’s silence at about 11am in memory of the officer.
Three teenagers, Henry Long, 19, and Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, were sentenced after being found guilty of manslaughter.
