A MAN said to have taunted police officers over their slain colleague, PC Andrew Harper, was charged with indecent behaviour.
Twenty-eight-year-old PC Harper was responding to reports of a quad bike theft in Stanford Dingley on August 15, 2019, when he was caught in a crane strap attached to the back of a car and dragged to his death.
On Monday, June 17, Clem Hill appeared in the dock at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
The 42-year-old, of Eagle Road, Bishops Green, had been charged with behaving in an indecent manner at Loddon Valley Police Station on June 16 last year.
He is said to have taunted a police officer, saying: “Hey, copper - do you want to hear a joke about PC Harper?”
He is then said to have made a sickening ‘joke’ about the catastrophic injuries the officer suffered as he was dragged down country lanes to his death.
After delivering the vile punchline, Mr Hill was alleged to have shouted: “Wahey!”
He was arrested and charged.
However, before the indecent behaviour case could proceed on Monday, the prosecution announced it was withdrawing the charge.
Following the tragedy Henry Long, from Mortimer was convicted of the manslaughter of PC Harper and jailed for 16 years, while his accomplices Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were each given 13 years.
Since PC Harper’s death his widow, Lissie, has campaigned tirelessly for a law which will give mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency workers.
In 2022 Harper’s Law – which is part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act – came into force.
It will double the maximum penalty from 12 months to two years for criminals convicted of assaulting police or other emergency workers.
