A JURY has retired to consider the verdicts in the retrial of three teenagers accused of murdering Oxfordshire's PC Andrew Harper.

Over the past five weeks, jurors at the Old Bailey in London have heard evidence of how the 28-year-old met his death on the night of August 15, last year.

The Abingdon-based officer had been responding to a report of a theft of a £10,000 quad bike in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, with his crew mate PC Shaw, even though their shift had ended hours before.

Their car arrived head on with the suspects' Seat Toledo, and as PC Harper got out to try and apprehend one of the suspects, his ankles got caught in a tow rope attached to the car boot.

He was dragged for more than a mile at speeds of up to 40mph along country lanes, the Old Bailey heard.

The policeman, who lived in Wallingford, had become dislodged by the time his colleague, PC Andrew Shaw, came across him.

PC Harper, who would have been knocked unconscious, suffered horrific injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene near the A4 in Berkshire.

The driver, Henry Long, 19, has admitted to the manslaughter of PC Harper, but has denied ever intending to harm the officer.

He is on trial for murder, along with Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, who were his passengers and also deny the charges.

Cole, from Aldermaston, Berkshire, and Bowers and Long, both from Mortimer, Reading, have admitted conspiring to steal the quad bike.

In their defence, the court heard that Long, the driver, could be believed when he said ‘sorry’.

At 3pm yesterday, Mr Justice Edis sent the jury of 11 men and women, who had heard all the evidence, out to deliberate on the final verdicts.

A juror was discharged from sitting on the retrial on Monday.

The judge told the remaining panel: “You will see you are now 11 and not 12.

“I have had to take a decision to discharge the 12th person from further participation from this jury.

“I have had to spend some time this morning investigating the situation before making a decision.”

He added: “Please do not speculate about it.

“It does not have anything to do with the facts of the case and certainly nothing to do with anything the defendants have done.”

After summing up the evidence yesterday at London’s central criminal court, the senior judge said the case would require ‘careful thought’.

Oxford Mail:

At 3pm on Tuesday, Mr Justice Edis sent a jury of 11 men and women out to deliberate on verdicts.

It comes after one juror was dismissed on Monday.

After summing up the evidence, the senior judge said the case would require 'careful thought'.