Andrew Harper's widow receives MBE for campaign work

Lissie Harper received an MBE from King Charles on Tuesday

The widow of police officer Andrew Harper has been made an MBE after campaigning for stronger laws in his memory.

Lissie Harper successfully lobbied for Harper's Law, which extends mandatory life sentences to anyone who commits the manslaughter of an emergency worker on duty.

Mr Harper, who worked for Thames Valley Police, was killed while responding to a bike theft in Berkshire in August 2019 when he was caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and dragged down a country road.

Three teenagers were jailed for his manslaughter in 2020.

Henry Long, 19, was sentenced to 16 years and 18-year-olds Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were handed 13 years in custody for manslaughter - but all three were cleared of murder by the jury.

Harper's Law was proposed by Mrs Harper in response and came into effect last June. It applies to police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics.

Andrew and Lissie Harper had been together for 12 years

Mrs Harper said last week she is in the process of finding a "new version" of her life four years on from her husband's death.

She told the Stigma Shakers podcast that she was learning to cope, "but it won't go, it won't disappear, it won't become fine".

The Harpers were newlyweds but had been together for 12 years, having known each other since school.