THE widow of police officer Andrew Harper who was killed on duty says she wishes he "had been a little less brave" as she collected a posthumous award in his honour.

Lissie Harper had only been married to the policeman for four weeks when he died while attending to a burglary in Sulhamstead, near Reading, in August.

She collected a posthumous award from Thames Valley Police in honour of her husband on Tuesday.

She said: “‪Andrew wanted to be a police man since he was a little boy, fuelled with enthusiasm and a contagious love for adventure that never left him when he grew into adulthood.

“I think if you were to have asked Andrew what the most important thing about being a police officer was, he would say protecting the innocent from harm and being the barrier of strength and accountability against the guilty."

She added: “‪I wish more than you could ever know that I wasn’t standing up here accepting this acknowledgement on behalf of Andrew, I wish in so many ways that he had been just a little less brave. But then he wouldn’t be the amazing person that he was. The silent protector going about his job without expectation or recognition.”

Andrew died on August 15 last year while responding to a burglary call-out near the village of Sulhamstead, Berks.

He and Lissie were due to go on their honeymoon shortly after the tragedy.

He was awarded the National Chair’s Certificate for representing “the very best of roads policing and policing in general” at the Annual Police Federation Roads Policing Awards in Kenilworth, Warwickshire on Tuesday evening.

Earlier this month, Henry Long, 18, pleaded guilty to Andrew's manslaughter and conspiracy to steal a quad bike, but denied murder at the Old Bailey.

He is due to go on trial in March alongside two 17-year-old boys who are accused of manslaughter and conspiracy to steal.

They both deny the charges.