A first responder to the death of Pc Andrew Harper has accused the Government of “spitting in the faces of police officers” by potentially releasing his killers early.
Former officer Chris Bushnell had a cup of tea with Pc Harper on the day he died while responding to a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in August 2019. Newlywed Pc Harper, 28, was caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a country road as three teenage suspects fled the scene of the burglary.
Trauma Resurfaced
Mr Bushnell, then a police constable, was waiting in a lay-by for the suspects’ vehicle when he saw it dragging his colleague’s body behind. The officer pursued but was ordered to stop through the radio. Minutes later he was told Pc Harper had been killed.
In a statement issued by Thames Valley Police Federation, as a petition to keep Pc Harper’s killers in jail surpassed 880,000 signatures, Mr Bushnell said: “I will never get over it. The guilt. That feeling of ‘what if?’ Today, I feel pretty much how I felt the day after it happened. This news about the sentencing – and the offenders being released early – has brought it all back again.”
Early Release Plans
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were convicted of manslaughter in 2020 following Pc Harper’s death in 2019. But under current early release plans, Cole and Bowers remain eligible to be freed in January – halfway through their 13-year sentences. Some 5,000 people are expected to be released early under sentencing changes, down from 6,000 after the exemptions announced as part of an urgent review of the scheme.
Downing Street said on Monday that it is “not possible” to exempt “one or two offenders” convicted of manslaughter from early release despite pressure over the decision. No 10 insisted Prime Minister Andy Burnham is “far from accepting the situation” but played down the prospect of a carve-out to keep Cole and Bowers behind bars. The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and would not be eligible for early release.
Anger and Grief
Mr Bushnell, who was serving in the West Berkshire dog unit when Pc Harper was killed, said: “I’ve seen people die before. I’ve seen suicides. This was beyond brutal. It was awful.” He visits the scene each year to pay tribute and has received counselling and support from the Police Federation.
Recounting the court hearings he had to attend, Mr Bushnell said: “They were mocking it. The second time they were in the cells, but we heard they weren’t even paying attention. There was no remorse at all. It was almost a joke to them. Nothing serious. If you have an accident, if you kill someone, you show remorse. I just can’t comprehend it. And for all this to be coming up again now is unbelievable. It stirs up all those emotions once more.”
Mr Bushnell, who retired from Thames Valley Police in 2022, added: “We can’t change the verdict. They got their sentences, which were pretty pitiful, to be fair. When I first heard a couple of weeks ago there was a chance they could be let out early, I was shaking. It brought everything back. To think they could be released early is absolutely outrageous. I’m angry with them, but I’m also angry with the Government. They’re spitting in the face of police officers.”
Call for Full Sentences
It is “appalling” that they could be out early and the Government “has to understand that this was the death of a police officer”, he said. “They have got to serve their full sentence. Andy did his duty that night. The least they can do is show him some respect.” An early release also “belittles” the officers who were traumatised by the violent death and “makes them feel worthless”, while doing “nothing” to support the service’s efforts to tackle crime, he added.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The death of Pc Andrew Harper was a horrific crime. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we share the anger from the police community that we are in this position. Thanks to tireless campaigning by Andrew’s family, Harper’s Law means that anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime now gets a mandatory life sentence. This Government has gone further by introducing a presumption that anyone convicted of murdering a police, prison or probation officer is handed a whole-life order. We have been clear that we wanted to go further and block more offenders from getting out sooner into their sentence but could not do so without risking prisons reaching capacity and collapsing. If that happened, police could not make arrests, courts could not remand offenders and there would be unchecked criminality on our streets.”
