Pc Andrew Harper’s body ‘tumbled’ in the road after he was dragged to death behind a car for a mile, a fellow officer at the scene told a jury.
The 28-year-old Thames Valley officer was responding to reports of a stolen quad bike in Berkshire last year when a strap trailing from the getaway Seat Toledo became lassoed around his leg and pulled him along country lanes.
Henry Long, 18, joined by two 17-year-olds who cannot be named, was driving the vehicle after the trio tried to steal the £10,000 Honda quad bike from a country home, the Old Bailey heard.
Long from Mortimer, Reading, and the two 17-year-olds all deny murdering the Thames Valley Police officer in August last year.
They all admit conspiring to steal a quad bike, and Long has admitted manslaughter, which the younger boys deny.
Yesterday, Constable Andy Kemp, a dog handler who was called to the scene told the jury he saw the Seat Toledo driving at speed near the A4.
Pc Andrew Harper’s (left) body ‘tumbled’ in the road after he was dragged to death behind a car for a mile, fellow officer at the scene Andy Kemp (right, pictured arriving at the Old Bailey) told a jury
PC Harper had married his childhood sweetheart Lissie just one month before his death
He said: ‘It was fast, very fast.’ The dog handler added: ‘From the way the car came across the junction, it came out very, very quickly, and there was something that was dragging from behind, and it made me think that they had stolen an ATM, a cash machine from somewhere.’
When he saw the officer’s body in the road in Ufton Lane, he said: ‘It appeared to be tumbling.’
The court heard that officers from Thames Valley and the Ministry of Defence Police went to the scene and tried to save Pc Harper.
In a statement read to the court by prosecutor Jonathan Polnay, Pc Nick Kluger, a Thames Valley firearms officer, described ‘an immense sense of dread and an urgency’ when he heard that an officer was down.
As he and fellow officers used a defibrillator to try to save Pc Harper, he said: ‘I said something like ‘Stay with me, buddy, the ambulance will be here soon and they’ll sort you out’.’
He had a ‘feeling of elation’ when he saw a paramedic arrive, but this quickly disappeared when he saw the expression on the emergency worker’s face, the court heard.
Paramedic Chris Darley said Pc Harper’s injuries were ‘incompatible with life’.
PC Andrew Harper (pictured next to his wife Lissie) died from multiple injuries when he became tangled in a crane strap attached to the boot of a SEAT Toledo on August 15 last year
Henry Long, 18, (pictured earlier this week) from Mortimer, Reading, and two 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny murdering the Thames Valley Police officer in August last year
His statement read: ‘I felt it was unfair to continue with CPR after what Pc Harper had been through.’
Mr Darley declared life extinct at the scene at 11.45pm.
Henry Long, 18, from Mortimer, Reading, and two 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all deny murdering the Thames Valley Police officer in August last year.
They all admit conspiring to steal a quad bike, and Long has admitted manslaughter, which the younger boys deny.
The court heard that when Long and one of the 17-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of murder they remained ‘quiet and calm’.
Pc Warren Mason found them in a caravan at the Four Houses Corner site in Ufton Nervet, fully dressed at around 12.50am.
A man attempting to get into a Seat car after it was stopped by Pc Andrew Harper and Pc Andrew Shaw who were responding to a burglary in progress near Stanford Dingley in Berkshire.
Lissie Harper, the wife of Andrew Harper, pictured being driven into the Old Bailey earlier this week
Another man present was shirtless and it appeared he had been in bed, the jury was told.
Mr Polnay read the officer’s statement, which said: ‘Long and (the 17-year-old) remained very quiet and calm. Long and (the 17-year-old) stepped out of the caravan to talk to me.’
He went on: ‘I explained to them that a police officer had died and I was arresting them on suspicion of murder. Long and (the 17-year-old) remained calm and collected.’
The pair were arrested for a second time at 12.57am by Pc Simon Denton.
Jurors were shown footage from his body-worn video, in which Long can be heard saying: ‘Does it look like I’ve done a murder? It’s upsetting, he’s calling me a murderer.’
The trial continues.