THE campaign calling for criminals convicted of killing emergency services workers to spend the rest of their lives in jail has a new name - Harper’s Law.

Lissie Harper - widow of hero police officer PC Andrew Harper - has vowed to fight for a change in the law in memory of her late husband, so that anyone killing a police officer, firefighter, nurse, doctor, prison officer or paramedic is jailed for life. 

Thousands of people from across the country have backed Lissie’s campaign, which is fully supported by the Police Federation of England and Wales.

But with the original plan to call the campaign Andrew’s Law causing potential confusion to the public – with it already being used in America and it being used for a different goal by Andrew’s mother - Lissie felt it important to change the name at this early juncture.

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PC Harper was well known as 'Harps' in policing and – with the backing of Andrew’s family – she said it felt right to her to change the campaign’s name to Harper’s Law.

This past weekend marked one year since Andrew’s death. - read all the tributes here. 

Speaking in the Daily Mail, Lissie spoke of her anger that the verdict into the trial into his death means his killers will be eligible for parole in only a few years.

Oxford Mail:

“In killing Andrew, a good, hard-working, honest, loving man, they have taken a life that was so precious and subjected me to a life sentence without him,” she says.

“For this to be allowed to happen it’s clear that our justice system, supposedly designed to protect us all and which Andrew devoted his life to defending until the very end, is broken.”

Oxford Mail:

Our front page when Lissie Harper asked Boris Johnson for a retrail of her husband's killers 

She added: “I do know that Andrew’s killers and their supporters would probably rather I faded quietly into the background.

“But I’ve no intention of doing that. Sadly, nothing I do will bring Andrew back but I know he would be proud of me for seeking to bring about a change in the law, which will hopefully act as a deterrent to anyone considering doing to one of his fellow frontline workers the terrible thing they did to him.

“Those who are not deterred by it, deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars, not be out walking the streets in a few years, as Andrew’s killers will be.”

Oxford Mail:

Lissie intends to call for the new Harper’s Law in high-profile meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel in coming weeks. She is calling on the British public and politicians of all parties to back her in her campaign. 

Newly married Thames Valley Police officer PC Andrew Harper was killed on 15 August last year by Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole. The trio were convicted of manslaughter last month but cleared of murder.

Oxford Mail:

Long (right) was jailed for 16 years and Bowers (bottom left) and Cole (top left) for 13 years.

The Attorney General is currently reviewing their sentences to see if they were too lenient. 

The Harper’s Law campaign has the backing of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which is working with Lissie on the timescales and legal drafting of her demands, and high-profile politicians, including former Police Minister and Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning. 

In 2013, then Home Secretary Theresa May told hundreds of police officers at the Police Federation Annual Conference that criminals who kill a police officer should automatically face life in prison without parole.

She said: “We ask police officers to keep us safe by confronting and stopping violent criminals for us. We ask them to take risks so that we don’t have to. That is why I am clear that: life should mean life for anyone convicted of killing a police officer.”

But nothing ever came of it.

John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “The killing of a police officer should see those responsible face the rest of their lives in prison. 

“This campaign would be Andrew’s legacy and we will continue to support Lissie in her efforts to seek justice and change the law for the greater good.”