P C Harper Verdict

There was no intention prior to the incident to take a life so it cannot be murder. Manslaughter is the correct crime committed.

Lemongrove, their INTENT was that they knew they had hit something/someone but carried on driving.
If you hadn't intended anything you'd have stopped, right ?

Those thugs went out that night with the -intention- of stealing something no matter what it took.
They had no -intention-of stopping.

I don’t believe for one minute that they didn’t know what was happening to that poor policeman. I find the lack of remorse abhorrent. They’ll be back on the streets in no time, it doesn’t bear thinking about.

They knew what they were doing, shown no remorse, hope their sentences are long ones and they are not in prison together. The lives of the family of PC Harper are changed forever, it’s so wrong that a decent policeman, doing his duty for all of us, should die at the hands of these dreadful people.
They should all get life, grow old in prison.

They went out tooled up with weapons that they fully intended to use if they were interrupted whilst stealing the quad bike. There was definitely intent. I can't bear to think about that poor man being dragged behind the car whilst those b*****s were laughing.
I didn't know that they were from the Traveller community, not that it makes a jot of difference where they come from.

I'm disgusted by the verdict and the contempt that was shown to PC Harper's family with the 'celebrations' when the verdict was delivered.

I don't know what the maximum sentence for manslaughter is but I hope that's what they get, even though it wont be enough IMO.

There will be no remorse from them for killing a police officer.

The police just get in the way of their criminal activities.

This is the most appalling case and outcome I think I have ever heard.

It is the callous indifference of these men that is so chilling; their open admission of 'driving round all day looking for something to steal'; the driver's 'do I look as though I've committed a murder?'; their denial that they were aware of a body attached to the car; their behaviour in the dock and climbing into the prison van; and their total lack of remorse about the whole incident. Not just them ; their families in the courtroom applauding the verdict, and the woman juror who was dismissed for exchanging nods and winks and smiles with the defendants.
And finally, the jurors for delivering this verdict.

What sort of people are we breeding?

I assumed there is some legal technicality that made this crime manslaughter rather than murder. A life sentence is a possibility in either case.

EllanVannin

Lemongrove, their INTENT was that they knew they had hit something/someone but carried on driving.
If you hadn't intended anything you'd have stopped, right ?

Those thugs went out that night with the -intention- of stealing something no matter what it took.
They had no -intention-of stopping.

Ellan I am not saying they didn’t intend to badly hurt or even kill, in what they did,( I don’t know) but proving the intent is impossible.
They said they didn’t know he was being dragged behind them, and that is what is impossible to prove.
Therefore it had to be considered as manslaughter.

I would think they will get long sentences even so, especially as there has been no remorse shown.I certainly hope they will anyway.

The driver knew PC Harper was being dragged and swerved erratically to try and detach him from the car. It’s heartbreaking. I can’t imagine what his young wife and parents have suffered only to see those grinning low lives get off with murder. I, too, won’t say what I’d love to regarding travellers as somebody would report my post. I just hope the judge gives them the maximum sentence possible.

They'll probably serve about 7 years.
Scum.

The travelling community have a deep rooted hatred of the Police, within their community they will be revered.

It is the saddest story, I cannot begin to imagine how the family and close friends are feeling.

I hope it is a turning point and the Police stop pussy footing around the travellers and start raiding their homes, check out all their vehicles and examine their income.

They have had the upper hand for far too long.

And the police will be accused of mistreating a minority class

Probably Annie.

Don't hold your breath, Missfoodlove, Where I live every farm is surrounded by security gates/barriers etc., because thefts of farm machinery are common place. The police pussy foot around. It's easier to issue a crime number for insurance purposes than actually confront them.

A now retired policeman friend of ours used to say in the nineties, 'We're all shit scared of them.'

Our daughter had her oil tank filled at huge expense.
The following day there was no hot water, no heating.
It was December.
The tank had been drained.
Police told her the travelling community follow the oil tankers, note the addresses then return.
So a family with a small child had a 72 hour wait for more oil and were £500 down.

I couldn’t read or listen to the detail of PC Harper’s death, I’m not usually affected so deeply by detail as in this case. I echo comments made by others here about the manner of his death. His wife and loved ones have to somehow live on, tontry to honour his memory by being the good people they were when he was killed.
The behaviour of the three defendants has been disgusting. I hope they are given the longest sentence possible. Manslaughter can warrant a life sentence which means the offender remains on licence when released, so liable to recall if the terms of the licence is breached.
The juror who was dismissed had benn seen to wave to the defendants “bye boys”

What a shocking miscarriage of justice.

I realise that intent has to be proved to return murder rather than manslaughter but the fact that the driver deliberately swerved from side to side proves they knew the poor policeman was still there.

A truly tragic story for such a lovely family.

What I feel about the killers, as others have said, better not be spelled out for fear of this being deleted.

I read that the Police are often reluctant to intervene because they were travellers - what the hell does that mean? The same reason could be given - because they are members of the Royal Family, have diplomatic immunity or (one I've heard lately) 'from a good family'. A crime is a crime.
The Police have a rotten time dealing with these people. Who'd do that job knowing the dangers they face each day? Too much sympathy for the criminal these days.

The "traveller" element has been discussed before and the point "some" must be made, not all travellers live outside the law

Having said that some do. How often is it reported how various traveller communities roll up, park up illegally, cause havoc, leave a whole lot of mess behind and in worst case scenarios thieve from where ever they happen to be, examples given by some posters here. Their critics often have the racist/demoniser slurs levied at that them, when they point out such lifestyles impact very negatively on local populations

The tragic death of PC Harper has brought to the fore just how awful it is to have an enclave of lawless people who have no regard for their fellow human being.

There is a community of Travellers, gypsies, Romanies, call them what you will, settled in and around where I live. Most are exactly the same as everyone else, honest, hard working, law abiding, but there is a hard core of closely related families, known to the police, and responsible for most of the local crime: poaching, theft, from gas canisters to jeeps, robbery with intimidation, and reprisals on anyone who attempts to report them:paint splashed property to cars being torched. The police occasionally catch them, usually the younger more stupid members, and they serve prison sentences, but it is difficult to secure convictions as they always have at least six witnesses to prove they ten miles away. People who suffer from them are warned to think very carefully before pursuing justice as they risk serious reprisals.

This contemptuous attitude towards the police was displayed throughout the trial, as they believe they are above the law, and sadly this is becoming increasingly apparent. There will be attempts to punish the man whose quad bike was stolen.

They appear to have known the policeman was behind the car as apparently the driver said to his passenger “ turn up the music” presumably to drown out the poor man shouting at them to stop. Also have I misunderstood it said in the papers one of them was riding the quad bike so how could he possibly not know what was happening. My heart goes out to his wife and family they had only been married a month

I felt the same calendargirl.
The verdict beggars belief.
Low life bunch of b......s