Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, are facing years in jail for manslaughter over the death of PC Andrew Harper.
Newlywed PC Harper, 28, became entangled in a tow rope attached to their Seat Toledo as he tried to apprehend them in Berkshire last August.
The teenagers admitted plotting the theft and Long pleaded guilty to manslaughter but each denied knowing that PC Harper was there.
All three were cleared of murder by an Old Bailey jury today which had deliberated for more than 12 hours, but Cole and Bowers were found guilty of manslaughter.
Here is a profile on each the killers, revealing how they documented their law-breaking in Facebook posts of hare-coursing and attacking homes with fireworks:
PC Andrew Harper and his wife Lissie celebrating their wedding in Oxfordshire last summer
(From left) Driver Henry Long, 19, and his passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18
HENRY LONG (driver)
Fast and Furious loving driver: Illiterate hell-raiser, 19, with string of juvenile offences for violence and drunken disorder
Henry Long, 19, was taken out of school by his father after he got into trouble with teachers
Unable to read or write, Henry Long, 19, was taken out of school by his father after he got into trouble with teachers.
Aged 12 he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and began thieving, he told the jury.
Specialising in stealing quad-bikes and machinery, Long carried with him tools for breaking into sheds, and snapping metal chains and padlocks.
The career thief first spotted the quad-bike and drove the getaway car which dragged PC Andrew Harper to his death. He had a reputation among travellers as a good driver able to steer vehicles at break-neck speeds.
With the help of Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both 18, he disguised his Seat Toledo by disabling the rear lights, covering the number plates with tape and removing any logos. Long was the ringleader, telling Bowers and Cole to ‘shut up’ and ‘turn the music up’ as he drove.
In cross examination Long came ‘perilously close’ to admitting he was enjoying the chase as it went on knowing PC Harper was being dragged behind him.
Specialising in stealing quad-bikes and machinery, Long (pictured in September 2019) carried with him tools for breaking into sheds, and snapping metal chains and padlocks
He tried to convince jurors that, had he known the officer was behind him, he would have stopped and tried to save him.
While sat in the dock he laughed with Bowers and Cole as details of the horrific death were read out which reduced PC Harper’s widow to tears. At first he told the police: ‘I do not give a f*** about any of this’ when they arrested him for murder.
He lied and claimed he was watching Fast and Furious all night. But police managed to trace his mobile phone to the scene forcing him to change his story.
Throughout the trial he argued he could not hear or feel anything behind the car. Long has four convictions for five offences, all as a juvenile. He is convicted of two charges of battery, two counts of being drunk and disorderly and a further two offences of shop lifting.
ALBERT BOWERS (passenger)
Accomplice with passion for blood-sport: Racist thug, 18, who posed with dead hares on Facebook and fell asleep during trial
Albert Bowers, 18, fell asleep in the trial when the prosecution were show footage of the officer being dragged to his death
Albert Bowers, 18, has a keen interest in the blood sport hare coursing.
Photographs from his Facebook account show the teenager holding pictures up of dead hares killed by his sighthound.
He had turned to waiting photographers and started to laugh following one of his first appearances at Reading Magistrates’ Court after the killing.
Even when PC Harper’s body was described as being like a ‘dear carcass’ Bowers, Long and Cole continued smirking in the dock.
His attention span lasted only 40 minutes and at one stage he fell asleep in the trial when the prosecution were show footage of the officer being dragged to his death.
In evidence he said he could not read or write and had to be supported by an intermediary. He left school in year six and occasionally worked as a landscape gardener while supporting himself by stealing.
Photographs from Bowers’s Facebook account show the teenager holding pictures up of dead hares killed by his sighthound
Jurors heard he and Long were close friends who often went out together looking for property to take. They both knew the nearby roads well and used this knowledge of the terrain to try and evade the police.
Bowers has three convictions for five offences while a juvenile.
He has been convicted of one count of criminal damage, one charge of sexual assault by touching, one offence of possessing an offensive weapon, one conviction for battery and one for a racially aggravated public order offence.
JESSIE COLE (passenger)
Tree-cutter, 18, who left school only able to spell his own name needed help from intermediary while he gave evidence at trial
Jessie Cole, 18, cannot read or write and left school aged 14
Jessie Cole, 18, claimed he had only recently met Bowers and Long.
He claimed he went out thieving with them and not on his own because he was scared.
Like the other two he cannot read or write and left school aged 14. He attended a college for boys with learning difficulties and by the time he dropped out he could just spell his name.
Since then he worked with his father as a tree-cutter in Reading, Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight earning up to £70 a day. In the weeks before the killing he worked with his father on the island before returning to live with his mother.
His parents had separated when he was 18-months-old. Cole said he was closer to his mother than his father. As with Bowers he was helped by an intermediary as he gave evidence.
Cole claimed he did not see PC Harper chasing him but dash-cam footage from the pursuing police car shows him turning towards the officer before he jumped through the Toledo window. He has no previous convictions.