Lessons from the Pilkington case
Are hate crimes against disabled people taken seriously enough?
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is trying to find out why Fiona Pilkington's repeated calls for help from the police were ignored, or passed over to the local council's Asbo unit (which, according to the inquest, also failed to protect her family). Ms Pilkington killed herself and her 18 year old daughter Francecca Hardwick in 2007 after years of abuse by neighbours. Francecca had severe learning difficulties.
The Crown Prosecution Service says it recognises the seriousness of hate crimes against disabled people, but does society in general? What do you think a hate crime is? Are the police capable of dealing with these problems effectively?
It's the phone-in with Nicky this morning.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Absolute disgust at this story probably weighed 70% in favour of the thugs who made this families life hell but also 30% to the community/ support services.
My point though. This story has been around for a while I always hear that this happened & who was to blame why am I not hearing that these lowlife small town scum aren't being brought to buck?
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Is this blog working?
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I think that this story is absolutly DISGUSTING. Someone should stop this happening NOW before it gets well out of hand.
My deepest sympofis go to Fiona Pilkington's.
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How many times are we going to read or hear about cases like this before we, as a country, decide that something is actually going to be done about stopping it?
By ‘something’, I mean a little bit more than what is happening with this specific case: Government Ministers putting on their very best ‘distraught’ face for the cameras and saying how this kind of anti-social behaviour MUST be curbed, before they disappear off to the much more important task of filling in today’s expenses form and preparing for the next topic that they are oh so concerned about.
High ranking police officers take their place before the cameras, talking about ‘lessons learned’ before they too beetle off to organise the higher priority jobs of commissioning more speed cameras to bring in yet more revenue.
Oh yes – everyone has to say the right things today, because the story is in the limelight and 2 helpless women who became so desperate due to the hate campaign they were experiencing that setting fire to themselves seemed to be the best option have to be mourned. But it’s OK, because the public masks of those who ought to truly hang their heads in shame only need to be worn for a little while longer before another story gains prominence.
Does anyone really believe the police or the government anymore? I don’t.
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I posted a comment and it has disappeared into the ether. Try again.
The police are incapable of dealing with cases like this because all the while they and the other 'services' pussyfoot around trying to understand the problem families them whilst all the while the families are laughing behind their backs and doing just what they want to do because they know that they will get away with it and even if they don't the punishment will be pathetic. ASBOs are a joke, Kids don't care about getting one.
They can pass as many laws as you like but we know they won't be enforced properly and the punishments will be laughable.
All involved in this tragic case should hang their heads in shame.
I also think that the families involved in this case should be named and shamed.
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This useless Government have destroyed this Country with their horrible left wing policies giving the slobs and yobs such an easy time,roll on the election when they ejected for a very very long time.
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zeldalicious, I saw that the Sun has named and shown the family, I was browsing the newsagent stand this morning. Charming lot.
I had an experience or two this morning that have made me feel there is no hope for this country in about ten years time. A kid spat as I was walking by him and my coat caught the lot as he hadn't seen me and why would I think he was about to spit? I told him that it was a horrible thing to do and was called something the profanity filter won't allow me to repeat. he couldn't have been more than 13. There must be something about me that attracts spitters. Don't say anything!!
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I can imagine carrie. I have spoken to a 'spitter' and got much the same response as you. It is disgusting.
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I decided to listen to radio4 this morning. I just didn't want to here people compete for the most outraged or the inevitable " this must never bee allowed to happen again, lessons will be learned".
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As a retired cop with more than 30 years service, I am ashamed at the way the police handled this, an old fashioned cop wearing a proper uniform, not dressed like a storm trooper going to war, with some marbles in his golves would have dealt with this in no time.
No complaints taken, no questions asked.
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I live in an area where there is a leisure activity that produces unbelievable noise. This has been going on for over 20 years directly affecting people in their homes. The police and council have been utterly ineffective, in fact I would say negligent. The noise drives the worst affected out of our homes at weekends and summer afternoons/evenings. The Db level within the properties exceeds 100 an average of 9 hours a day. We have been asked to monitor 'them' and photograph them as part of an ASB monitoring site, which I think is just tokenism. We have been threatened because of this, they know were we live, we don't know were they live. We are sitting targets! When approached politely to move on 'they' say they don't give a damn (very agressively and in much stronger terms!)about our problems. These are adults, no wonder some kids are like they are.
It's so depressing, especially when you are treated by the council and police as the enemy. There was a time when 'public servants' used to be on the side of the fair, and fight for 'our' rights.
I'm so sad for this family, but can understand how it happens because of the apathy of the police and council. And people have given up, because the fight to get something done has just become too hard. We used to 'self police' didn't we. You knew if you did something wrong and another parent saw you, you were terrified that they would tell your parents. Enough said.
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Perhaps if the BBC stopped assisting the government in trying to portray disabled people as frauds and scroungers by making heavily biased programme about them the ignorant of this world may take a different view of disabled people. How about the BBC makes a programme about how difficult it is for disabled people to live opn the pittance the government gives them to live on?
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Shrodinger
Rather adventitious old chap - I can't see what your post got to do with the Pilkington case. Wrong blog maybe?
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Another misuse of language, "Hate crime", or some violent crimes are relatively more serious than others, an insidious idea if ever there was one.
Yobs do this sort of thing becasue it makes them feel good about themselves, its an easy kick, afterall no one is going to touch you, you have no fear of the public or the police, they cant hurt you, and even if you get put in clink, your rights will give you a pretty easy ride as they try and "re-educate" you away from your anti social behavior.
The police are not to blame here, WE ARE TO BLAME, we voted in 1997 to tear up a 1000 years of legal history in order to give something we dont have to give "rights"
The Human Rights Act (HRA) and the European Convention (ECHR), which the HRA incorporates into our domestic law is to blame for the the worst in our society getting even worse we are the nation that forgot how to govern itself, we contracted out our responsibilities to unelected judges and foriegn statutes and institutions.
The only course of action is to take those responsibility back.
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I am disgusted by what has happened. I was brought up in the Scottish mining village of Boreland in Fife. I had 2 club feet and had terrible problems with my mobility. The children in that village were the best around. They helped and treated me as one of their own. The support that they gave me without being asked, and that is how it should be, was total. Their reaction to me was what was considered normal then about 60 years ago. What has changed? Children always follow their parents morals and in that mining village everyone looked out for everyone else, the majority were miners and that is how you survive in the pits. My Dad was the local Headmaster of the local Primary School and my brothers and I would be regarded as "toffs" in todays twisted society. But we experienced total support and dare I say it "love" from that Community.
So I must assume it is the parental attitude as a child is born as a blank piece of blotting paper that sucks up all its knowledge from it's experiences going on around it. There is far to much emphasis on "my rights" and not enough on looking out for others rights to live a normal life no matter what the handicap is.
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typical of this government - pass the blame! if you give people money for nothing without responsibility they will bring up their kids without respect. the blame in this tragic event lies fair and square at the feet of messrs blair and brown who think its ok to pamper the indolent.
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this is an ignorant crimes.crimes against humanity is wrong more so worst against people that cannot do anything to change themselves in any shape,form or health. I think people are heartless these days and its sad to hear this sad story in a very civilised and generous country.
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I am really annoyed that everyone seems to want to blame the police, the council and everyone offical over this the problem lay mainly at the door of the yobs parents. The thugs that make peoples lives hell like this know full well there is no come back. The police are stretched and far to busy at the airports etc with machine guns. We need to focus on ordinary innocent people for a change.
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Does anyone think that things will chane in Barwell or any other town/city which is blighted by anti-social behaviour? Of course not.
Gordy and Big Al will anounce various strategies that will have the aim of cracking down of anti-social behaviour, but when it comes to putting these strategies into practise, it will take years to implement them.
Fiona Pilkington and her daughter were failed by the government, social and council services and Leicestershire Police. The young thugs who demonised her should have been locked up for a long time, but guess what, they haven't been and they won't be.
The simple fact is that NuLabour are not all that bothered with cracking down on anti-social behaviour, after all the young thugs who act anti-socially are the future clients of the welfare state.
Bring Back The Newboards, where the agenda isn't set by the BBC!!
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My teenager sons have been genuinely shocked/upset by this incident. I know other parents like myself work very hard to bring their children up to be decent, honourable and caring human beings. The major obstacle that parents face is the influence of the media on our children and the way it has changed over the past 10/15 years to incorporate so much that is unsavoury. It encourages humiliation of people (it all started with the seemingly innocuous The weakest link though tongue in cheek many children cannot differentiate then such programmes as Big Brother) encouraging gossip as entertainment. The media has dumbed downed and appealed to the lowest common denominator/human behaviour in our society. It makes up sensationalist story lines in it's TV programmes (saying this is reflecting society - well not anyone I know!) However children (and indeed some adults)copy assuming this is how everyone else IS actually living! I am constantly having to switch off the TV as so much is unsuitable especially between 9 and 10 pm as my 14 years old is still up. It's time that the Media takes some responsibility for it's HUGE INFLUENCE (which it knows it has)on society and HELPS US PARENTS. No doubt it will only be too happy to give lots of air and coverage to these terrible tragedies and sensationalise too. The British media has no conscience and long as it gets the readers/viewers it will carry on as it has for the past 10 years or so. When will we as a nation wake up to this and not just accept what it wants to feed us. Our media has far more power than any Government - after all when they have wanted to get rid of a government they have, they report with bias and influence our opinion. Don't blame the Police they need our support for a job that must be getting more challenging every year. No doubt the media will have a go at the Police and the kids involved but who holds the media to account for it's substantial part in our moral decline?
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I`m not really sure what best to say on this. This is undoubtedly one of the most tragic cases I have come across. There has clearly been a failure on the part of a number of people that culminated in this terrible incident, and this is unfortunately an all to familiar story up and down the UK nowadays where decent law abiding people are being terrorised by mindless thugs.
Why is this occurring? Well the easiest thing to do would be to blame the politicians for their inadequate policies and poor decisions, and even though the politicians have a case to answer here, I also believe that we as a society have to look at ourselves and how we have contributed to things getting so bad.
The key words here really are Respect and Responsibility. Every one of us had a Responsibility for our words and actions and the effect that these have on others, and the Respect to be sensitive to this.
Sadly, respect is something which seems to be lacking in British Society and has even been portrayed as unfashionable. As a result a lack of respect seems now to be accepted rather than challenged, possibly because people are afraid of reprisals or fear of finding themselves on the wrong side of the law but this is exactly what these thugs play on.
In previous generations communities would have stood together and tackled the problem together but nowadays it seems that people are just out for themselves. Parents are spending much less time with their children and as a result they do not grow up with the discipline that they should have. Parents and teachers are also prevented from disciplining children properly by these do gooders who don`t agree with smacking or shouting at children. Don`t get me wrong I don`t agree with violence towards children in any way shape or form but I do believe that they also need firm discipline. Political correctness seems to have taken over from common sense.
Police and Councils also need greater powers to prosecute and evict families who terrorise those around them. I feel that we are very good at penalising people for small things like overfilling our bins or parking on double yellow lines but when it comes to more serious problems like antisocial behaviour we are afraid to do anything about it.
We all need to think long and hard about what kind of society we want to live in and understand what we need to do to put it right rather than just moaning about it and doing nothing.
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