Man jailed after he was caught by Andrew Harper - 6 months before he was killed
A drug dealer has been jailed after he was caught by hero cop Andrew Harper - six months before he was tragically killed.
Cocaine and cannabis dealer Rakesh Singh, 27, who was pulled over by PC Harper on Valentine’s Day 2019, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Six months after arresting Singh, newlywed PC Harper died in the line of duty after he was dragged under a van while responding to reports of a burglary.
Oxford Crown Court heard that Singh had been pulled over by PC Harper after tailgated Harper's unmarked police car. After allowing him to pass, Singh accelerated his BMW to around 100mph and began tailgating another vehicle ahead - prompting Harper to flip on his blue lights and pull him over.
In a report into the arrest issued by PC Harper at the time, the PC said that Singh's vehicle had a smell of a 'heady mixture of cannabis and aftershave'. The defendant, who at the time was nearing the end of a suspended jail sentence for drug dealing, was immediately apologetic for his driving.
PC Andrew Harper tragically died in August 2019 (Mark Lord / TVP / SWNS)Asked about the strong smell of cannabis, he told the police officer he was wearing aftershave and appeared to blame his mother for the drug whiff – claiming she smoked cannabis. Singh had rolls of cash both on him and in the central console of the car, amounting to around £2,500 in notes.
Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe
In the car was a holdall containing cocaine and cannabis with a combined street value of more than £6,000. There was 93g of cocaine, split across various bags and wraps including in a Heroes chocolate tub, and 115g of class B drugs. DNA showed that Singh had handled the drugs.
Phones seized from the car contained messages pointing to him having begun dealing drugs again within months of him being handed a suspended prison sentence in 2017 for selling cannabis. Singh, from Oxford, initially pleaded not guilty to possession with intent to supply class A and B drugs, but changed his plea on the day of his trial.
Andrew sadly left behind his wife Lissie (PA)In mitigation, the defendant was said to be a much more mature man than the 22-year-old who was caught by PC Harper in 2019. At the time, he was making ‘poor decisions’, had the pressure of providing financially for his own family, and was using drugs himself. He had an offer of a job, starting on Monday, with a boss who was sitting in the public gallery at the sentencing hearing.
Handing him five years’ imprisonment, judge Recorder Rachel Drake told Singh: “The suggestion that you were naïve and did not know the consequences of supplying drugs, did not appreciate what you were involved in, quite simply fall away once you’ve stood in that dock or another dock in this court.”
She added: “It is not right to say that you had complied with your suspended sentence and kept out of trouble for 23 of the 24 months. Your phone indicates you were involved in the supply of drugs six months after the suspended sentence was passed.”
The couple had wed just weeks before PC Harper's death (PA)In August 2091, PC Harper's death sent shockwaves through the country. As he responded to reports of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, the officer became caught up in a tow rope hanging from the back of a car which the would-be thieves were making their getaway in. Tangled in the rope, the Thames Valley police officer was dragged for over a mile along country lanes, suffering horrendous injuries before he died.
The trio responsible for his death were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. Ringleader Henry Long was jailed for 16 years, while Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced to 13 years in a young offender’s unit. PC Harper had married his partner Lissie just weeks before his death. She has since been honoured with an MBE after she pushed for legal changes in 'Andrew's Law', which has extended mandatory life sentences anyone who kills an emergency worker.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
