PC Harper’s widow says not seeing his body made it hard to believe he’d gone as she shares heartbreak one year on
PC HARPER'S widow says she struggled to believe her hero cop husband was dead after being unable to see his body before he was laid to rest.
The brave cop was tragically killed four weeks after their wedding by three teens in a speeding getaway car, who dragged him for more than a mile - leaving him unrecognisable.
His body was so disfigured that one witness thought it was a deer after the PC was snared in a tow strap behind the car.
The grieving widow, now 29, spoke during an interview with the about how she struggled to believe Andrew, 28, was dead and sat beside his closed coffin during the funeral.
She recalls how she spoke to him, telling him that she loved him and that one day they would be together again.
She said: "Not seeing Andrew's body after he died has made it even harder for me to believe that he's gone.
I sat beside his closed coffin in the chapel of rest and told him that I loved him, that everything would be OK, and one day we’d be together again.
Lissie Harper
"But I sat beside his closed coffin in the chapel of rest and told him that I loved him, that everything would be OK, and one day we'd be together again."
She opened up further about her anguish in losing her husband and childhood sweetheart, a man she remembers as "funny, goofy, kind-natured and nurturing".
She said: "In killing Andrew, a good, hardworking, honest, loving man, they have taken a life that was so precious and subjected me to a life sentence without him," she said.
"Andrew and I grew up together so, losing him, I feel I’ve lost a whole part of myself,
"It’s crippling. We had a honeymoon booked in the Maldives in September, which I had to cancel, and were planning on trying for a baby when we got back.
"Andrew would have been a great dad and having a family with him is one of the many things his killers have taken from me."
Andrew would have been a great dad and having a family with him is one of the many things his killers have taken from me.
Lissie Harper
Heartbroken Lissie also recalled the moment she received the horrific news her husband had been killed after speaking with him just hours before.
She had been woken by a knock at the door to find two police officers who informed her Andrew had died and that ten people had been taken into custody.
She describes hyperventilating and sobbing into a towel when told the terrible news and while in shock saying, 'are you sure? we have only just got married?'
She said: "I realised that didn't make sense but somehow, in my head, it made what he was telling me impossoble to believe."
Now Lissie wears a heart charm on a gold bracelet engraved with ‘I Love you Lissie’ in his handwriting after his wedding ring was never discovered.
The pair met and started their lives together as childhood sweethearts and Lissie describes her hero husband as having all the best qualities to become a police officer - joining the force aged 19.
She said: "He was clever and always very proactive and protective, as well as compassionate. He liked to help people.
"He also had a strong sense of right and wrong."
On the night of August 15 last year, The Thames Valley Police officer was dragged to his death while in the process of apprehending a teen gang during a botched robbery near Reading, Berks.
Three teenagers were convicted of manslaughter over his death after the jury deliberated for almost two days.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, received 13-year terms but could be out in eight.
Henry Long, 19, was caged for 16 years for driving the car which dragged the newlywed cop to his death.
The court heard a car driven by Long at "breakneck speed" swung PC Andrew Harper "like a pendulum" along a country lane.
The composed widow has vowed to fight for justice for her husband and pushed for harsher sentences for the wreckless teens who killed him.
She said: "They will be able to get on with their lives — a privilege they have taken away from Andrew."
The 29-year-old says she has "no doubt" that when her husband's killers are released they will go back to a life of committing crimes.
Since his death, Lissie has said she has “screamed and cried every day” since the killing.
Last week she launched her own Andrew's Law campaign for full-life prison terms for those who kill emergency services workers, including police, fire or emergency medical workers.
She said: "I pledge to my late husband to never stop until I have made the difference that this country clearly needs.
"I vow to stand strong and firm with so many other honourable people in our country to make the changes that we clearly know to be justified.";
Her cause is being backed by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents thousands of officers up to the rank of chief inspector.
In sentencing, the judge said nothing he can do can “restore Andrew Harper to his loving wife or family", adding: "His devastating loss in terrible circumstances will follow his family for ever.”
Describing the killers as "young, unintelligent but professional criminals", he added none of them had "shown anything resembling remorse".
The soft sentences dished out to Long, Bowers and Cole were met with fury by social media users.
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Last night 320,000 people had signed a petition calling for the trial verdict to be overturned.
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Attorney General Suella Braverman will now look into whether the jail time handed down was too lenient after a request to review the case.
However, she has no power to order a retrial, and prosecutors would either need new and compelling evidence to apply for the acquittals to be quashed, or there would need to be proven interference with the jury.
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