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PC Andrew Harper's widow Lissie to meet home secretary

Martis Media Priti Patel and Lissie HarperMartis Media
Lissie Harper previously met Priti Patel in September

PC Andrew Harper's widow is to meet the home secretary later to discuss tougher sentences for people who kill emergency workers.

PC Harper was dragged to his death by a getaway car while responding to a burglary in Berkshire in August 2019.

Three teenagers were jailed for between 13 and 16 years for his manslaughter.

Lissie Harper subsequently launched a campaign for Harper's Law, calling for anyone convicted of killing emergency workers to be jailed for life.

In a blog post ahead of meeting with Priti Patel and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, Mrs Harper said: "I am sure that they are just as motivated in pushing forward with Harper's Law as we are and I am eager to make progress in our plans and the legal aspects.

"My dedication to Harper's Law is as unshakeable as ever and I will be insistent in the upcoming meetings of the importance of haste as well as the accuracy of the legislation that we are trying to create."

Harper family Andrew and Lissie HarperHarper family
PC Andrew Harper married his childhood sweetheart Lissie four weeks before he was killed

PC Harper died after being dragged along country lanes in Sulhamstead.

He had become entangled in a strap attached to a getaway vehicle as he tried to deal with three quad bike thieves.

Teenagers Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

Both Mrs Harper and PC Harper's mother, Debbie Adlam, have launched separate campaigns calling for tougher sentences.

Mrs Adlam's Andrew's Law campaign proposes that those convicted of the manslaughter of a blue-light worker while committing a crime should be jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

Mrs Harper wants a life sentence with a mandatory minimum term for offenders "guilty of killing an emergency services worker due to a criminal act".

Mrs Harper, from Wallingford in Oxfordshire, previously met Mrs Patel and Mr Buckland in September.

In October, Mrs Patel said: "The justice Secretary and I will continue working with Lissie Harper, PC Andrew Harper's widow, to ensure anyone who kills an emergency worker gets the sentence they deserve."