23 July 2020

Pc Andrew Harper murder trial jury given majority direction

23 July 2020

The jury in the retrial of three teenagers accused of murdering Pc Andrew Harper has been given a majority direction.

The 28-year-old officer was killed as he tried to apprehend quad bike thieves on the night of August 15 last year.

He had become caught in a tow rope attached to a getaway car and was dragged more than a mile along country lanes, the Old Bailey has heard.

Pc Harper suffered horrific injuries and died at the scene near the A4 in Berkshire.

Driver Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, from near Reading, have admitted conspiring to steal a quad bike but deny murder.

Long has admitted manslaughter but denies intending to harm the Thames Valley Police officer.

Mr Justice Edis sent the jurors out to deliberate their verdicts at 3pm on Tuesday.

At 2pm on Thursday, he told them he would now accept verdicts on which at least 10 of them were agreed.

The jury was then sent out again to continue deliberating.

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