Pc Andrew Harper murder trial: Jury retires to consider verdict

Three on trial at the Old Bailey

THE jury in the Pc Andrew Harper murder trial has retired to consider its verdict.

Three teenagers are charged with the murder of the 28-year-old police officer after he died while responding to a report of a quad bike theft in Stanford Dingley on August 15 last year.

The Old Bailey has heard how his feet got caught in a strap attached to a getaway car which had been used to tow the bike, before being dragged along country roads for more than a mile.

Pc Harper, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, suffered catastrophic injuries and died at the scene near the A4.

Henry Long, 19, from Mortimer, and 18-year-olds Albert Bowers, of Moat Close, Bramley, and Jessie Cole, of Paices Hill, Aldermaston, admit conspiring to steal the bike but all deny murder.

Mr Long, the driver of the vehicle, has admitted manslaughter.

Mr Justice Edis summed up the case on Tuesday before the 11 jurors retired.

The judge discharged one juror on Monday but said the decision did not have "anything to do with the facts of this case".