Traveller site where PC Andrew Harper’s killers hid is knocked down in ‘obscene’ £4.2m taxpayer-funded regeneration
WORK has almost finished on a “perverse” £3.5 million revamp of the traveller site where PC Andrew Harper’s killers hid.
The renovations came despite the hero cop’s family pleading for the plan to be scrapped.
The officer, 28, who had just wed wife Lissie, died when he was dragged along the road behind a car driven by three teenage quad bike thieves in 2019.
His killers, Henry Long, 19, and Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, were arrested at the Four Houses Corner site in Ufton Nervet, Berks.
The trio - later convicted of manslaughter and jailed - had hid in the camp, where they destroyed evidence.
In 2020, the dilapidated plot was abandoned and the travellers were rehoused.
But last year, West Berkshire Council approved a multi-million revamp, featuring 17 double-berth caravan pitches with two parking spaces each, provisions for electric car charges, and a children’s play area.
Now aerial photos show construction is almost finished - complete with a brand new roundabout and seven flashy new brick buildings.
PC Harper’s mum Debbie Adlam previously described the local authority’s decision as “disrespectful” and accused them of “stamping all over Andrew’s memory”.
She wrote and told them she goes there “as my only place to feel I am close to him” and “will worry over the likelihood of vandalising the tributes we place”.
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Tory councillor Ross Mackinnon told The Sun the taxpayer-funded scheme is “an insult to PC Harper’s memory”.
He called on the Lib Dem-run local authority to scrap the project and restore the site to nature, with a memorial to Andrew, last September.
He said: “It just seems perverse to redevelop the camp. It’s against public decency to spend nearly £4million refurbishing it.”
Thames Valley Police also objected to the redevelopment, saying the site had long been used for “criminal activities”.
Council deputy leader Denise Gaines said: “We effectively had no choice.
“This site has been allocated to travellers since at least the 1960s and is important for us to deliver much-needed traveller accommodation.
“We are, of course, acutely aware of the history.”
The works are scheduled to finish next month.
Who was PC Andrew Harper and how did the police officer die?
NEWLYWED PC Andrew Harper, was killed while on duty trying to stop three teens stealing a quad bike.
His wife, Lissie Harper, campaigned for a new law protecting emergency service workers ever since his death in 2019.
This led to the passing of "Harper's Law", which introduced a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of killing emergency workers.
Andrew and Lissie were married just four weeks before his death at Ardington House in Oxfordshire.
The officer sent a romantic card to Lissie on the morning of their big day to mark their commitment to each other.
His touching message said: "Life is slippery. Here, take my hand."
Who was PC Andrew Harper?
PC Andrew Harper was killed while attending a reported burglary in a rural area of Berkshire.
He was a rapid response officer with the force’s roads and traffic command.
His wife described him as "selfless, beautiful, and heroic".
Lissie Harper said: "We will never understand how such a beautiful, loving , decent human being could be dealt this fate.
"I now have my own life sentence to bear and believe me when I say it will be a much more painful, soul destroying and treacherous journey than anyone facing a meagre number of years in prison will experience."
The 28-year-old officer died after he became tangled in a tow rope behind the getaway car.
He was the first police officer to die on duty since Westminster PC Keith Palmer in March 2017.
What happened to PC Harper?
PC Harper attended a suspected burglary with a colleague in a marked car at 11.30pm on Thursday, August 15, 2019.
He had just left his vehicle when he was struck by a car at a country crossroads, close to Sulhamstead and the A4 Bath Road between Reading and Newbury.
He fell beneath the vehicle and was dragged a “considerable” distance, caught in a tow rope.
On August 17, police said that Harper died of "multiple injuries" but it is unclear at which stage PC Harper died.
Det Supt Ailsa Kent said: "A post-mortem was carried out on Andrew's body and the cause of death has been recorded as multiple injuries.
"(That) is consistent with our current belief that Andrew was caught between a vehicle and the road and then dragged for a distance."
Ten murder suspects, aged 13-30, were arrested from a nearby local authority-run caravan and mobile home site, Four Houses Corner.
Who was convicted in connection with PC Andrew Harper's murder?
On September 17, 2019, four people were arrested on suspicion of murdering PC Harper.
Henry Long, 19, and 18-year-olds Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole appeared in court in July 2020.
A fourth suspect, a 21-year-old man, was arrested for the first time after cops swooped on a traveller camp on the outskirts of Basingstoke, Hants.
And then 20-year-old Jed Foster was charged with the PC's murder, appearing in court in August 2019. All charges were dropped.
Long, Bowers and Cole were found not guilty of murdering the officer after the jury had deliberated for almost two days.
Bowers and Cole were instead convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter - which Long had previously admitted.
Long pleaded guilty to manslaughter, he told lawyers he felt "disgraceful".
All three had also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal the quad bike.
They were seen smirking and laughing during the trial, Bowers even fell asleep while footage of PC Harper's death was shown.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC told an earlier hearing: "PC Harper was killed in truly shocking circumstances.
"During the course of that high-speed journey, and until at last he became disentangled, his police uniform was quite literally ripped and stripped from his body.
"…PC Harper was left as you can imagine with the most appalling of injuries, from which he died there on the road.
"It was a senseless killing of a young police officer in the line of duty, a young man who was doing no more than his job."
