PC Andrew Harper’s widow and Marie McCourt are among the inspirational women who turned personal tragedies into inspiring campaigns… as their efforts are recognised by the King

• Lissie Harper has received an MBE for services to victims of violent crime 
• Her husband, PC Harper was killed by teenagers as he responded to a burglary
• Marie McCourt helped to introduce measures making it harder for killers to be released when hiding victim’s remains

Inspirational women and men who turned personal tragedies into campaigns to make the world a better place have been recognised by the King.

Widow Lissie Harper has been given an MBE for services to victims of violent crime and their families, after fighting to get mandatory life sentences for anyone who kills an emergency worker in the line of duty.

Harper’s Law was introduced after her husband, 28-year-old Pc Andrew Harper, was dragged to his death along country lanes by teenagers in a car. He had responded to a 999 call just before he was due to clock off and begin his honeymoon.

Marie McCourt, mother of murdered 22-year-old Helen McCourt, also gets an MBE after she successfully helped introduce new measures making it harder for killers to be released if they do not disclose where they hid their victim’s remains.

Lissie Harper has been given an MBE for services to victims of violent crime and their families

Harper’s Law was introduced after her husband, 28-year-old Pc Andrew Harper, was murdered whilst responding to a 999 call just before he was due to clock off and begin his honeymoon

Mrs McCourt, honoured for services to families of victims of unlawful killing, spent years campaigning for Helen’s law before it was enacted in 2021. Her daughter was murdered by pub landlord Ian Simms in 1988.

Mrs McCourt, 79, said: ‘[Campaigners] have had to do things which have hurt them so much because of the reasons why they want to make sure our laws are right and correct.

‘I think with Helen, she would just be so delighted that other families may not have to go through what we’ve had to go through.’ Environmental activist Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah has been given a CBE for services to public health.

Marie McCourt (pictured) also received an MBE after she helped introduce new measures, making it harder for killers to be released if they don’t disclose where their victim’s remains are

Mrs Adoo-Kissi-Debrah has campaigned for the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill or Ella’s law, named after her asthmatic nine-year-old daughter who died in 2013 and later became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.

The Bill – enshrining the human right to clean air – is set to be scrutinised by MPs in the Commons after passing the Lords in early December.

Mrs Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said her daughter would be ‘overjoyed’ that she did not give up on the campaign. But she admitted her CBE was tinged with sadness. She said: ‘When I went to the cemetery on Christmas Day… I was like: ‘Ah, your mum got a CBE and you’re not here to see it’. It was like a bittersweet moment.’

Meanwhile, Bryn Hughes, whose daughter Nicola was one of two police officers murdered by Dale Cregan while on duty in Tameside, Greater Manchester, in 2012, was handed an MBE for services to people affected by crime.

Environmental activist Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah (pictured right) has been given a CBE for services to public health

Mr Hughes set up the Pc Nicola Hughes Memorial Fund in 2014 to help young people under the age of 21 who have lost a close family member through a violent crime such as murder or manslaughter, with grants and services. He said his daughter would have been ‘proud’, adding: ‘I suppose it’s tinged with that bit of sadness as well. It marks the ten-year anniversary [of her death] so it’s quite poignant to be honest.’

Fellow grieving parents Liz and Charles Ritchie have also received MBEs for services to charity and families bereaved by gambling-related suicides. The couple set up the charity Gambling with Lives following the death of their 24-year-old son Jack in 2017, and have campaigned for better regulation of online betting.

Mrs Ritchie said: ‘We thought it was a positive thing to accept. And… it feels like a recognition of the suffering that the people who have died went through, and the suffering that the families continue to feel.’

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