Lissie Harper: Police officer’s widow honoured alongside famous faces after law change campaign

12/12/2023

The widow of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty has been made an MBE, after campaigning for tougher laws in his memory.

Lissie Harper’s husband, Andrew Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer, died after getting caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and being dragged down a winding country road in Berkshire in 2019. The couple had been married for just four weeks. Mrs Harper successfully campaigned for Harper’s Law – which introduced mandatory life sentences for anyone who commits the manslaughter of an emergency worker while they are on duty.

She began to push for a change in the law when the three teenagers found guilty of her husband’s manslaughter were jailed for a total of 42 years after they were all acquitted of murder. Henry Long, 19, was sentenced to 16 years and Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, were handed 13 years in custody over PC Harper’s death. Mrs Harper’s MBE recognises her services to victims of violent crime and their families.

Harper’s Law came into effect last June and applies to police and prison officers, as well as firefighters and paramedics. Celebrities honoured at same Windsor Castle event Actress Vicky McClure, best known for playing Detective Inspector Kate Fleming in the BBC series Line Of Duty, was also made an MBE for her services to drama and charity at the same Windsor Castle ceremony where Mrs Harper was honoured.

The Bafta-winning actress, 40, has been an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society since 2018 and has raised awareness around the disease through her creation of Our Dementia Choir. Conservative MP Michael Fabricant became a knight after being named on former prime minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours lists. Fallon Sherrock, who became the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Darts Championship in 2019, was also made an MBE.

Northern Ireland footballer Jonny Evans, former England women’s rugby union captain Sarah Hunter, former England women’s footballer Eni Aluko, and former boxer Johnny Nelson were also awarded MBEs.

Sky News