Yahoo News PC Harper's widow launches campaign for mandatory life sentences for killers of emergency workers
People who kill emergency workers should face mandatory full life jail terms, the widow of PC Andrew Harper has said.
Lissie Harper is calling for “Andrew's Law”, which would mean those convicted of causing the death of police, fire or emergency medical workers would spend the rest of their life in prison.
It comes after her husband’s killers – Henry Long, 19, and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers – were handed 16-year and 13-year sentences for manslaughter at the Old Bailey last week.
Mrs Harper said: "I pledge to my late husband to never stop until I have made the difference that this country clearly needs.
"I vow to stand strong and firm with so many other honourable people in our country to make the changes that we clearly know to be justified.”
The campaign is being backed by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents thousands of officers up to the rank of chief inspector.
Thames Valley Police officer PC Harper was caught in a crane strap dangling from the back of a Seat Toledo driven by Long, and dragged to his death.
PC Harper’s mother Debbie Adlam also backed the campaign, saying: ”An emergency service worker is there to protect all of us and we should be protecting them as well.”
She added: "You've killed somebody who is out there to do a good job, to protect the country, and you have taken their life. You need to pay for that.”
PC Harper joins a long list of emergency workers who have been killed while on duty throughout the years.
Gerald Walker
Dog handler PC Gerald “Ged” Walker was killed while on duty in Bulwell, Nottingham, in January 2003.
PC Walker, 42, was dragged 100 yards and suffered fatal head injuries after he reached into a stolen taxi in an attempt to remove the keys from the ignition.
The driver of the taxi, David Parfitt, 26, was convicted of manslaughter in the same year and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Parfitt had been on licence at the time of the incident for a previous robbery offence.
Nina Mackay
WPC Nina Mackay was fatally stabbed in October 1997 as she attempted to arrest Magdi Elgizouli, an unemployed man with paranoid schizophrenia.
The Metropolitan Police officer, who was 25 at the time of her death, removed her protective vest as she tried to arrest Elgizouli in Stratford, east London, for breaching his bail conditions.
Elgizouli stabbed WPC Mackay once in the abdomen and she died two hours later.
Mackay is the only female police officer in Great Britain to have been stabbed to death while on duty.
Elgizouli was initially charged with murder but was convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and was detained indefinitely at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire before being moved to St Bernard's Hospital in west London.
Sharon Beshenivsky
PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who worked for West Yorkshire Police, was shot dead by a criminal gang during a robbery in Bradford in November 2005.
The 38-year-old was responding to reports that an attack alarm had been activated at a travel agent in the city when she was fatally shot in the chest.
Somali brothers Mustaf Jama, 25, and Yusaf Jama, 19, and Muzzaker Shah were convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to life with a minimum of 35 years.
Two other men, Faisal and Hassan Razzaq, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life with a minimum of 11 years and 20 years respectively.
Keith Palmer
PC Keith Palmer was guarding the Palace of Westminster in March 2017 when terrorist Khalid Masood, armed with two knives, attempted to get past him after running over pedestrians.
Despite being unarmed, PC Palmer confronted Masood and attempted to stop him but was pushed back against the wall and fatally stabbed.
PC Palmer’s actions delayed Masood’s attempts to enter Parliament long enough for an armed police officer to arrive and shoot him dead.
PC Palmer, 48, was awarded the George Medal "for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament” in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
