Henry Long

2 offences

What the court heard

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to steal in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, on 15 August 2019. He was found not guilty of murder. Sentencing remarks The statutory surcharge will be imposed in the appropriate sum in each case. The car and all its contents, the clothing seized and Cole's mobile phone will be forfeited. All existing orders from previous convictions are discharged and no further order is made in respect of them. The driving licenses will be endorsed in accordance with the sentences I shall shortly pronounce. Long, Bowers and Cole all stand to be sentenced for manslaughter. Long pleaded guilty to that offence in January 2020 having asked not to be arraigned at the first PTPH in December, for which plea he is entitled to a 25% discount from his sentence. Bowers and Cole were convicted by the jury. All four defendants stand to be sentenced for conspiracy to steal, TK having pleaded guilty in December and intimated his plea before that (full credit), Long in January (25% credit) and Bowers and Cole at the start of the first trial in March (10% credit). INTRODUCTION My task now is to impose a sentence which reflects the seriousness of this case and protects the public. Those are the purposes of the sentences in this case in all cases, given the ages the defendants have now reached. Nothing which I can do, or could have done if there had been a conviction for murder, can restore Andrew Harper to his loving wife and family, or to the public he served so well. His devastating loss in these terrible circumstances will follow his family forever and they have the profound sympathy of the court and the whole nation in their loss. The victim personal statements are deeply moving and I have read them with care and listened intently to what was said in this courtroom. THE FACTS I heard the trial and the facts I set out below are those of which I am sure having heard the evidence. The jury were not sure that Henry Long knew that as he was driving from Admoor Lane to Ufton Lane the car he was driving was dragging a human body. That is what the prosecution had to prove before anyone could be convicted of murder and they did not succeed in doing so. These young men therefore fall to be sentenced for manslaughter. Cases of manslaughter range greatly in seriousness. Sometimes death may be caused by an act of gross carelessness, sometimes a case of manslaughter may be very close to a case of murder in its seriousness. That is so here. This is a very…

Aggravating and mitigating factors

Age / Youth and immaturity of the offender; A Guilty Plea

Around this case

• Central Criminal Court Crown Court
• Prosecuted by CPS Thames and Chiltern
• Investigated by Thames Valley Police