Internet troll who sent messages to PC Andrew Harper's widow sentenced

A man who sent offensive messages to the widow of a police officer dragged to his death by a getaway car has been given a suspended jail term.

Milo Alejandro, 20, earlier admitted sending the messages to Lissie Harper on Instagram in March 2021.

Mrs Harper's husband Andrew, a 28-year-old Thames Valley Police officer from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in August 2019.

Three teenagers were jailed for his manslaughter in July 2020.

Alejandro, from Ilford, London, admitted one count of sending an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message online at a hearing on 12 April at Oxford Magistrates' Court.

He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months on Thursday.

Alejandro will also need to complete a 25-day rehabilitation course and pay a fine of £128 and costs of £85. He will also complete 60 hours' unpaid work.

In April, a bill backed by Mrs Harper which gives mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency service workers became law after receiving Royal Assent.

Mrs Harper had campaigned for "Harper's Law" and it was announced as part of the government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act.

Henry Long, the then 19-year-old leader of the criminal trio, admitted Mr Harper's manslaughter near Sulhamstead, Berkshire, and was sentenced to 16 years.

Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both then 18, were convicted of manslaughter after a trial at the Old Bailey and given 13-year sentences.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].