PC Andrew Harper: Murder trial to start in June
- Published
PC Andrew Harper worked for Thames Valley Police
Three men accused of murdering a police officer will go on trial in June after the coronavirus pandemic halted proceedings.
Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole had been on trial before a jury was discharged in March when three jurors began self-isolating.
PC Andrew Harper, 28, was killed on a country road in Berkshire, as he responded with a colleague to reports of a quad bike theft in August 2019.
All three men deny murder.
Setting a new trial date for the week of 15 June at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Edis said trials were starting again at a "very low level of capacity across the whole system".
He said this case had been given "priority" because of "its great importance to the relatives of the victim and also to the defendants and their relatives".
Mr Cole, of Paices Hill near Reading and Mr Bowers, of Moat Close, Bramley, who could not be named in the previous trial because of their age, have now turned 18. Both deny manslaughter but have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal a quad bike.
Mr Long, 19 from Mortimer, Reading, has admitted manslaughter and conspiracy to steal a quad bike.
Thomas King, 21, from Basingstoke, has previously admitted conspiring to steal a quad bike.