Ocean
The Living Force
Murdered newlywed officer Andrew Harper, 28, was 'dragged under burglars' getaway van for hundreds of yards before being hit by a police dog vehicle' - as inquiry focuses on nearby travellers' camp.
A police officer attending a burglary was dragged beneath a van for several hundred yards before being hit by a police dog vehicle responding to the incident, according to reports.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, was attending the scene in Sulhamstead, near Reading, before being dragged down the road when he was hit by a Seat 'getaway' van at 11.30pm on Thursday.
The newlywed officer, who married fiancée Lissie four weeks ago, was thrown from the vehicle's undercarriage before being struck by a police vehicle thought to have been part of a dog unit taking part in the pursuit, The Times reported.
A witness said he heard an officer yelling: 'Stay with me, stay with me, keep breathing,' as PC Harper lay fatally injured in the road.
Ten people – including a boy of 13 – have been arrested after what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a 'mindless and brutal' crime.
Yesterday officers were seen attending a nearby Travellers' site near Burghfield, where inquiries were carried out in relation to the incident.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates when someone is hit by a police vehicle, has not yet opened an inquiry by an agreement with the force, it was reported.
Four weeks ago, PC Harper was posing for pictures on his wedding day, and cut the cake with new wife Lissie next to a sign reading 'Happily Ever Harper'.
But yesterday it emerged the 28-year-old officer was the latest victim of Wild West Britain when he was mowed down and 'dragged along by a vehicle' while responding to a burglary in Berkshire.
PC Harper and his bride were due to go on honeymoon next week, but late on Thursday night the couple's dreams were shattered in the cruellest fashion when the officer lost his life in the line of duty.
Last night, just over two miles from the crime scene, police were searching a travellers' site, strewn with litter and children's toys.
PC Harper's death triggered a fresh debate over the level of serious crime on Britain's streets. Only yesterday, Richard Atkins QC, the chairman of the Bar Council, warned that criminals were 'going about their business unchallenged'.
MPs from all parties were united in their condemnation of the murder, describing it as 'sickening' and saying police officers had been left 'dangerously exposed'.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, who declared last month that she wanted to see criminals 'feel terror' on the streets, said she was 'devastated and appalled' by PC Harper's murder.
Mr Johnson, who has pledged to hire another 20,000 police officers to get a grip of the problem, said he was 'shocked and appalled' and admitted 'we are seeing too much violent crime on our streets'.
PC Harper's devastated family described the officer – a 'highly regarded' member of Thames Valley Police – as 'the loveliest person that you will ever meet'.
PC Harper, who became a regular officer in 2011 after joining as a special constable a year earlier, had attended the reported break-in near the village of Sulhamstead with a colleague at 11.30pm on Thursday night.
While it is unclear exactly what happened or what was being targeted in the burglary, PC Harper was injured on a lane just off the A4 Bath Road between Reading and Newbury – a crossroads next to the 12-bedroom Braeburn Lodge care home.
At an emotional press conference, Chief Constable John Campbell said officers were working 'hard and diligently to find out what happened'. He said: 'What we do know is Andrew had been dragged along by a vehicle', adding that all ten suspects had been arrested within an hour of the incident.
A resident in nearby Burghfield said a police helicopter hovered over a travellers' site from midnight until about 4am yesterday.
PC Harper married Lissie, also 28, in Oxfordshire on July 18 in the grounds of Ardington House, a listed stately home built in 1720. Mrs Harper posted wedding pictures online and said the couple 'could not have asked for more'. She added: 'The sun was shining and the venue was incredible.'
PC Harper's uncle Dale Shrimpton, 56, said: 'We are devastated. He was the loveliest person that you will ever meet. I can't begin to tell you how we feel. We all loved him very much. He didn't have a bad bone in his body.'
Met Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar wrote on Twitter: 'So sad to read this. PC Harper was the officer in the case when my then husband was arrested for domestic violence in 2016. He was on Thames Valley Response then.
'He was brilliant and gave me the courage to take steps to change my life. I can't thank him enough. He was a top officer.'
PC Harper's death comes after PC Stuart Outten was stabbed in the head in Leyton, east London, on August 8. Days later a 42-year-old West Midlands Police officer suffered serious injuries when he was run over with his own vehicle.
Mr Johnson said: 'The murder of PC Andrew Harper is a mindless and brutal crime and obviously all our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his colleagues.
'When I think of the bravery that PC Andrew Harper showed in intercepting those criminals, I think of the risks that the police run every day to keep us safe.'
He added: 'This is a very rare occurrence, it is an absolute tragedy that a police officer should lose his life in the course of his duties and of course we will do everything we can to keep our officers safe.'
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the death highlighted the need for a boost to police numbers. He added: 'Let's just think for a moment of the horror of it, but also for the need for more police officers to be able to respond to disorder in our society.'
Home affairs committee chairman Yvette Cooper said: 'Police officers like PC Harper demonstrate extraordinary bravery every day, and his death is a tragic reminder of the immense sacrifices made to keep us safe.'
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‘Stay with me…keep breathing’: Colleague reveals he desperately tried to save murdered PC, 28, who was ‘dragged to his death’ by car at scene of burglary
By Jemma Buckley, Michael Bedigan and Andy Dolan for the Daily Mail and Henry Martin for MailOnline
A colleague of the newlywed police officer who was killed while responding to reports of a burglary begged the fallen officer to ‘stay with me, keep breathing’ as he lay dying in a country lane.
A witness told of the heartbreaking scenes as fellow officers fought to save PC Andrew Harper, 28, after he was mown down by a 'getaway car' on Thursday night, just four weeks after he married his fiancée Lissie.
The householder, who asked not to be named, came out of his home at around 11.30pm on Thursday after hearing a commotion in a lane off the A4 near Reading.
As police worked inside forensic tents near the property yesterday, the witness said: ‘When I came outside I could see one patrol car facing the A4 and the other facing in the other direction. The officer’s crewmate was shouting, saying “Stay with me, stay with me. Keep breathing.” Those words will stay with me.
‘He was crouched over the officer’s body, which was lying on the lane.
‘Ambulances and more police cars arrived – it was like the Blackpool illuminations. I went out into the lane to see if the police needed any help and an officer turned to me and said: “Leave the area – this is a crime scene.”’
Asked if there was a police pursuit in the run-up to PC Harper being hit by the vehicle, Thames Valley Police Chief Constable John Campbell said only that his fallen officer had been involved in a ‘response to a reported burglary’.
The senior officer said PC Harper was a ‘highly regarded, popular member of the team’ who was known across the force.
He said the traffic officer – based at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, around 30 miles from where the incident happened – had been outside his marked patrol car when he was ‘dragged along by a vehicle’, in what was ‘obviously a very distressing’ incident for the colleagues who witnessed it.
Mr Campbell said it had been ‘an extremely dark day’ for his force – and said the fact PC Harper had only been married four weeks added to the force’s ‘angst’ and to that of PC Harper’s family.
He declined to say whether the vehicle which hit PC Harper, who joined the force as a special constable in 2010 and became a police officer a year later, was stolen.
The force’s flags were flying at half-mast as a sign of respect ‘in honour and memory of Andrew’, he said, adding: ‘The officer was well-known across the force so it is felt very personally... by the whole police family.’
The incident took place at the crossroads of Ufton Lane and Lambdens Hill, near the village of Sulhamstead – close to Bucklebury where the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton live.
Andy Fiddler, from the Thames Valley Police Federation, added: ‘This is totally devastating news.
‘All our thoughts – and the thoughts of the entire police family across the UK – are with the family, friends and close colleagues of PC Andrew Harper.’
Last night, Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, said: ‘I speak for everybody at Thames Valley Police when I say that I am deeply shocked and saddened by the death of PC Andrew Harper while on duty. He was a young officer, only recently married, and looking forward to a long and successful career.
‘Today, assaults on police officers have become far too common. I am concerned that attacks on police officers are no longer regarded within some communities with the same level of seriousness as they were previously.
‘In the past, most criminals were careful not to attack a police officer. But as sentences across the board have become more lenient, so the number of assaults increased. There would seem to be a clear correlation.
‘The tragic death of PC Harper is a wake up call for our criminal justice system. That it happened is a sad reflection on society today.
‘The majority of the public are law-abiding, but we have a small hardcore who cause a totally disproportionate amount of crime. I hope that this can now be addressed.
‘It is not as if this problem has come as a surprise. It must now be dealt with.’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had been made aware of the officer’s death, due to possible issues around a police pursuit, but is not investigating.
'Life is slippery…take my hand': The poignant wedding day message between widow and murdered police officer, 28, is revealed after he was dragged under a vehicle to his death at scene of burglary just four weeks later
By Jack Elsom, Mark Duell and Martin Robinson for MailOnline
The recently married police officer who was murdered on a call-out gave his bride a heart-melting message as the couple prepared to begin a life together, it has been revealed.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, sent his love Lissie Beckett a touching card which read 'Life is slippery. Here, take my hand' on their wedding day just four weeks ago.
But just days before the newlyweds were due to go on their honeymoon, the officer was tragically killed last night in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
He was allegedly struck by a car and dragged under it for a distance, before being hit by another vehicle.
A police officer attending a burglary was dragged beneath a van for several hundred yards before being hit by a police dog vehicle responding to the incident, according to reports.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, was attending the scene in Sulhamstead, near Reading, before being dragged down the road when he was hit by a Seat 'getaway' van at 11.30pm on Thursday.
The newlywed officer, who married fiancée Lissie four weeks ago, was thrown from the vehicle's undercarriage before being struck by a police vehicle thought to have been part of a dog unit taking part in the pursuit, The Times reported.
A witness said he heard an officer yelling: 'Stay with me, stay with me, keep breathing,' as PC Harper lay fatally injured in the road.
Ten people – including a boy of 13 – have been arrested after what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a 'mindless and brutal' crime.
Yesterday officers were seen attending a nearby Travellers' site near Burghfield, where inquiries were carried out in relation to the incident.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates when someone is hit by a police vehicle, has not yet opened an inquiry by an agreement with the force, it was reported.
Four weeks ago, PC Harper was posing for pictures on his wedding day, and cut the cake with new wife Lissie next to a sign reading 'Happily Ever Harper'.
But yesterday it emerged the 28-year-old officer was the latest victim of Wild West Britain when he was mowed down and 'dragged along by a vehicle' while responding to a burglary in Berkshire.
PC Harper and his bride were due to go on honeymoon next week, but late on Thursday night the couple's dreams were shattered in the cruellest fashion when the officer lost his life in the line of duty.
Last night, just over two miles from the crime scene, police were searching a travellers' site, strewn with litter and children's toys.
PC Harper's death triggered a fresh debate over the level of serious crime on Britain's streets. Only yesterday, Richard Atkins QC, the chairman of the Bar Council, warned that criminals were 'going about their business unchallenged'.
MPs from all parties were united in their condemnation of the murder, describing it as 'sickening' and saying police officers had been left 'dangerously exposed'.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, who declared last month that she wanted to see criminals 'feel terror' on the streets, said she was 'devastated and appalled' by PC Harper's murder.
Mr Johnson, who has pledged to hire another 20,000 police officers to get a grip of the problem, said he was 'shocked and appalled' and admitted 'we are seeing too much violent crime on our streets'.
PC Harper's devastated family described the officer – a 'highly regarded' member of Thames Valley Police – as 'the loveliest person that you will ever meet'.
PC Harper, who became a regular officer in 2011 after joining as a special constable a year earlier, had attended the reported break-in near the village of Sulhamstead with a colleague at 11.30pm on Thursday night.
While it is unclear exactly what happened or what was being targeted in the burglary, PC Harper was injured on a lane just off the A4 Bath Road between Reading and Newbury – a crossroads next to the 12-bedroom Braeburn Lodge care home.
At an emotional press conference, Chief Constable John Campbell said officers were working 'hard and diligently to find out what happened'. He said: 'What we do know is Andrew had been dragged along by a vehicle', adding that all ten suspects had been arrested within an hour of the incident.
A resident in nearby Burghfield said a police helicopter hovered over a travellers' site from midnight until about 4am yesterday.
PC Harper married Lissie, also 28, in Oxfordshire on July 18 in the grounds of Ardington House, a listed stately home built in 1720. Mrs Harper posted wedding pictures online and said the couple 'could not have asked for more'. She added: 'The sun was shining and the venue was incredible.'
PC Harper's uncle Dale Shrimpton, 56, said: 'We are devastated. He was the loveliest person that you will ever meet. I can't begin to tell you how we feel. We all loved him very much. He didn't have a bad bone in his body.'
Met Chief Superintendent Sally Benatar wrote on Twitter: 'So sad to read this. PC Harper was the officer in the case when my then husband was arrested for domestic violence in 2016. He was on Thames Valley Response then.
'He was brilliant and gave me the courage to take steps to change my life. I can't thank him enough. He was a top officer.'
PC Harper's death comes after PC Stuart Outten was stabbed in the head in Leyton, east London, on August 8. Days later a 42-year-old West Midlands Police officer suffered serious injuries when he was run over with his own vehicle.
Mr Johnson said: 'The murder of PC Andrew Harper is a mindless and brutal crime and obviously all our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his colleagues.
'When I think of the bravery that PC Andrew Harper showed in intercepting those criminals, I think of the risks that the police run every day to keep us safe.'
He added: 'This is a very rare occurrence, it is an absolute tragedy that a police officer should lose his life in the course of his duties and of course we will do everything we can to keep our officers safe.'
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the death highlighted the need for a boost to police numbers. He added: 'Let's just think for a moment of the horror of it, but also for the need for more police officers to be able to respond to disorder in our society.'
Home affairs committee chairman Yvette Cooper said: 'Police officers like PC Harper demonstrate extraordinary bravery every day, and his death is a tragic reminder of the immense sacrifices made to keep us safe.'
...................................................................................................................
‘Stay with me…keep breathing’: Colleague reveals he desperately tried to save murdered PC, 28, who was ‘dragged to his death’ by car at scene of burglary
By Jemma Buckley, Michael Bedigan and Andy Dolan for the Daily Mail and Henry Martin for MailOnline
A colleague of the newlywed police officer who was killed while responding to reports of a burglary begged the fallen officer to ‘stay with me, keep breathing’ as he lay dying in a country lane.
A witness told of the heartbreaking scenes as fellow officers fought to save PC Andrew Harper, 28, after he was mown down by a 'getaway car' on Thursday night, just four weeks after he married his fiancée Lissie.
The householder, who asked not to be named, came out of his home at around 11.30pm on Thursday after hearing a commotion in a lane off the A4 near Reading.
As police worked inside forensic tents near the property yesterday, the witness said: ‘When I came outside I could see one patrol car facing the A4 and the other facing in the other direction. The officer’s crewmate was shouting, saying “Stay with me, stay with me. Keep breathing.” Those words will stay with me.
‘He was crouched over the officer’s body, which was lying on the lane.
‘Ambulances and more police cars arrived – it was like the Blackpool illuminations. I went out into the lane to see if the police needed any help and an officer turned to me and said: “Leave the area – this is a crime scene.”’
Asked if there was a police pursuit in the run-up to PC Harper being hit by the vehicle, Thames Valley Police Chief Constable John Campbell said only that his fallen officer had been involved in a ‘response to a reported burglary’.
The senior officer said PC Harper was a ‘highly regarded, popular member of the team’ who was known across the force.
He said the traffic officer – based at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, around 30 miles from where the incident happened – had been outside his marked patrol car when he was ‘dragged along by a vehicle’, in what was ‘obviously a very distressing’ incident for the colleagues who witnessed it.
Mr Campbell said it had been ‘an extremely dark day’ for his force – and said the fact PC Harper had only been married four weeks added to the force’s ‘angst’ and to that of PC Harper’s family.
He declined to say whether the vehicle which hit PC Harper, who joined the force as a special constable in 2010 and became a police officer a year later, was stolen.
The force’s flags were flying at half-mast as a sign of respect ‘in honour and memory of Andrew’, he said, adding: ‘The officer was well-known across the force so it is felt very personally... by the whole police family.’
The incident took place at the crossroads of Ufton Lane and Lambdens Hill, near the village of Sulhamstead – close to Bucklebury where the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton live.
Andy Fiddler, from the Thames Valley Police Federation, added: ‘This is totally devastating news.
‘All our thoughts – and the thoughts of the entire police family across the UK – are with the family, friends and close colleagues of PC Andrew Harper.’
Last night, Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, said: ‘I speak for everybody at Thames Valley Police when I say that I am deeply shocked and saddened by the death of PC Andrew Harper while on duty. He was a young officer, only recently married, and looking forward to a long and successful career.
‘Today, assaults on police officers have become far too common. I am concerned that attacks on police officers are no longer regarded within some communities with the same level of seriousness as they were previously.
‘In the past, most criminals were careful not to attack a police officer. But as sentences across the board have become more lenient, so the number of assaults increased. There would seem to be a clear correlation.
‘The tragic death of PC Harper is a wake up call for our criminal justice system. That it happened is a sad reflection on society today.
‘The majority of the public are law-abiding, but we have a small hardcore who cause a totally disproportionate amount of crime. I hope that this can now be addressed.
‘It is not as if this problem has come as a surprise. It must now be dealt with.’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had been made aware of the officer’s death, due to possible issues around a police pursuit, but is not investigating.
'Life is slippery…take my hand': The poignant wedding day message between widow and murdered police officer, 28, is revealed after he was dragged under a vehicle to his death at scene of burglary just four weeks later
By Jack Elsom, Mark Duell and Martin Robinson for MailOnline
The recently married police officer who was murdered on a call-out gave his bride a heart-melting message as the couple prepared to begin a life together, it has been revealed.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, sent his love Lissie Beckett a touching card which read 'Life is slippery. Here, take my hand' on their wedding day just four weeks ago.
But just days before the newlyweds were due to go on their honeymoon, the officer was tragically killed last night in Sulhamstead, Berkshire.
He was allegedly struck by a car and dragged under it for a distance, before being hit by another vehicle.