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British Home Secretary Priti Patel: "The Worst of Mankind"
Photo: VICKIE FLORES / EPA
"Whoever attacks our rescue workers represents the worst of mankind," said British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday - and announced new legislation.
Violent repression against police officers, prison guards, firefighters or paramedics should result in drastic penalties in the future.
It is only right that "future murderers should be deprived of their freedom to walk through our streets through life imprisonment," continued Patel.
So far, shorter prison sentences have also been possible if the acts in question were classified as manslaughter rather than murder, as happened in the case of a police officer killed in 2019.
His widow, Lissie Harper, had fought for the change in the law because she felt the sentence was too low.
Andrew Harper was killed on duty on August 15, 2019 in Sulhamstead, around 77 kilometers west of London.
In July 2020, three teenagers Henry Long, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced to 19 and 13 years in prison for manslaughter, respectively.
A motion from the Attorney General to increase the sentence was denied.
"This government is on the side of the victims and their families"
It is considered likely that the amendment to a new police law - named "Harper's Law" in memory of the police officer who was killed - will come into force next year.
"We will move to mandatory life sentences for anyone who kills a rescue worker who is on duty," said Justice Minister Dominic Raab.
He paid tribute to "the remarkable campaign by Lissi Harper".
"This government is on the side of the victims and their families."
The widow of the murdered policeman said: "It was a long journey and a lot of hard work." But she knew that her husband would have been very proud to see "that this important milestone was reached".
