Father of murdered son brands "Harper's law" campaign "discriminatory"
19 August 2020, 14:30 | Updated: 19 August 2020, 14:34
Father of murdered son brands "Harper's law" campaign "discriminatory"
This caller's son was tragically murdered and believes the campaign by PC Harper's widow to get killers of emergency workers mandatory life sentences is "discriminatory."
The widow of PC Andrew Harper is campaigning for the killers of emergency workers to be given life imprisonment after her late husband was dragged to his death by a getaway car as he responded to a burglary in Berkshire.
Lissie Harper says the manslaughter convictions given to three teenagers, instead of murder, were too lenient.
Caller Roy from Enfield told LBC's Tom Swarbrick that tragically his son Danny was murdered three and a half years ago in an incident of knife crime.
"It happened in March 2017 and the guy who killed my son was convicted of murder, he got sentenced to 18 years life...but it doesn't matter what sentence the guy got...we're the ones left with the life sentence," Roy said.
Wife of Pc Andrew Harper gives statement following trial verdict
While he thought it was a travesty that PC Harper was killed, he disagreed with the Harper campaign, as by giving murder convictions to manslaughter cases, "you're discriminating against everyone who's lost their life through homicide."
"Our son's killer was charged with murder, he got 18 years, Andrew's killer got convicted of manslaughter and got 16 years," Roy said, condemning the justice system, "life should be life."
"I get frustrated by Andrew's mum saying we're going to get a law in for the emergency services who lose their life through things like this...because you're discriminating the people who've lost their life through homicide.
"Why should they be treated differently to emergency workers?" Roy said.
Tom countered that some believe because emergency workers are putting their lives in danger for the benefit of the public, to which Roy countered that every human life is a human life.
Tom reflected that instinctively he agreed with Roy's point because "what does it say to the families of those who are murdered" if simply because the lost loved one does not have a certain job, they receive different treatment.
