‘They are not taking my damn bike’: Court hears 999 call before murder of PC Andrew Harper

‘F*** me, they’ve already taken it… It’s not going to turn out well for me. I hope someone is on the way,’ quad bike owner told call handler

PC Andrew Harper, a member of the roads policing proactive unit, died after responding to reports of a burglary on 15 August (EPA)

A group of young men charged with the murder of PC Andrew Harper arrived at a property to steal an expensive quad bike masked in balaclavas and armed with weapons, a court has heard.

PC Harper, of the Thames Valley Police force, was killed after getting caught in a strap that was trailing behind a car driven at speed, being dragged for over a mile along the road on 15 August last year, the Old Bailey was told.

He sustained fatal injuries while responding to the reported theft of a quad bike from the home near the village of Sulhamstead in Berkshire.

The bike belonged to Peter Wallis, who jurors heard had told a 999 operator the men had been near his home earlier that day, warning: “It’s not going to turn out well for me.”

The three young men, Henry Long from Reading and two 17-year-olds who cannot be named for legal reasons, arrived at Mr Wallis’s home in a silver Seat Toledo with the number plate covered, the court was told.

They admitted to plotting to steal the £10,000 bike but denied PC Harper’s murder.

Mr Wallis gave evidence from behind a screen and said he bought the quad bike last April and kept it at the house he was renovating in Stanford Dingley, near Reading in Berkshire.

He told jurors he had seen the men earlier in the day and asked them repeatedly: “Can I help you, gentlemen?”

He said they responded by “eyeballing accompanied by a ‘yeah’ and a gesture” which Mr Wallis found “intimidatory”. He added the driver of the car, Long, was “aggressive” but he did not ring the police at the time.

The court heard the group returned just after 11pm, after he had gone to bed but could not sleep due to a feeling of nervousness.

“I quite rightly assumed something was afoot,” he told jurors. “I knelt on my bed and was peering out of the window and had a clear view of what was coming down the hill.

“In the moonlight I could see a metal object slowly coming down, just meeting the edge of my drive. It was the front half of a silver car with no lights on.

“I had a rough idea of where my phone was. I rummaged and found it.”

Mr Wallis’s 999 call was played in court, in which he told the operator: “I have got four masked men outside my house. They’ve got weapons.

“They came round earlier and now they are on my property. They are all masked…

“I think they are breaking into my garage to nick my stuff. I presume they know I’m in here.”

He continued: “They are stealing my quad bike. I’m going out there now. I’m going out there now.”

When asked by the operator not to confront the thieves, Mr Wallis said: “I don’t care. I have got to protect that bike.

“Please send someone. I’m going out there. Will you send someone or not?”

Told officers were on their way and urged again not to go outside, Mr Wallis said: “There’s all sorts of bits of wood out there. They are not taking my damn bike.

“F*** me, they’ve already taken it… It’s not going to turn out well for me. I hope someone is on the way.”

He then described to the operator how the thieves used a tow rope and dragged the bike away.

The thieves’ car had been spotted earlier by other people in the village, the court heard.

Yvonne Millam was driving home on Cock Lane when she came across a dented car she initially thought had been in an accident until she noticed the car’s number plate was covered by “royal blue tape”.

In a statement she read to the court, Ms Millam said: “They were up to no good due to the number plate being covered. I noticed all the people in the car were wearing balaclavas when I looked across.

Hundreds of mourners line Oxford’s high street to pay their respects (PA)

“The driver was staring at me. I felt instantly intimidated and scared,” she added.

Another man, Thomas Gunter, saw the car while at the Bull Inn pub on Cock Lane with friends when the car drove past three times with music blaring.

He said: “I recall what I thought was a gold-coloured Seat drive past approximately three times.

“What struck me was the car was playing very loud music and it was driving very quickly.”

Mr Gunter said it was unusual, and added his friends were surprised because the occupants gave them a “weird look”.

Press Association