PC Andrew Harper's death sparks memorial of epaulettes
- Published
PC Stuart Roberts has been sent up to 15,000 badges and epaulettes since he thought of the idea after Andrew Harper's death
A policeman has received 15,000 epaulettes and badges from across the globe in tribute to an officer who was killed on duty.
PC Andrew Harper died in August while responding to reports of a break-in.
A campaign by PC Stuart Roberts resulted in people in "protective services" from Australia to the United States sending in epaulettes, which show collar number and sometimes rank.
He hopes to create a display at the National Memorial Arboretum.
In addition to receiving donations from people in Russia, Sudan and the Falklands, he was also sent some from Met Police commissioner Cressida Dick and the force's chief of general staff, Sir Mark Carleton-Smith. The father of Greater Manchester PC Nicola Hughes, who died while on duty in 2012, also sent a set of her epaulettes and some from his prison officer uniform.
The campaign has seen donations of badges from Canada and America
PC Roberts said what started out as a memorial for police officers "evolved so quickly" into a tribute for all emergency service workers and those who provide "protective services", such as prison officers and lifeboat search and rescue.
The forensic collision investigator for Northamptonshire Police said: "We might do different roles, there might even be some kind of rivalry between us historically over the years, but at the end of the day I think the respect between all the agencies and organisations is massive and this seemed to really highlight that."
The 47-year-old is planning to create an artwork of the epaulettes with Sam Bailey, who sketched every member of the British armed forces who lost their life in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.
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PC Harper, 28, died after he was dragged along the road by a vehicle in Berkshire.
The Thames Valley Police officer had been married for four weeks and his death sparked an outpouring of tributes and support for the police.
On Tuesday, his wife Lissie collected a posthumous honour at the Annual Police Federation Roads Policing Awards.
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