News / Bristol
Murdered man’s pleas ‘ignored for years’
Police officers who failed to help a disabled refugee who was beaten to death and set on fire in Brislington showed “hallmarks of racial bias” according to a damning ruling from the police watchdog.
Bijan Ebrahimi was murdered by Lee James in July 2013 after seven years of abuse after James wrongly believed that his neighbour on Capgrave Crescent was a paedophile.
Between 2007 and his murder, Ebrahimi made 85 calls to Avon & Somerset Police to report a range of crimes, including racial abuse, criminal damage and threats to kill him.
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He had his home and car set on fire and had the word “pervert” daubed on his front door, but on 40 separate occasions, police officers failed to record the crimes.
Ebrahimi was forced to film his neighbours in order to record evidence of the crimes against him.
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In a report published on Wednesday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) criticised the “poor responses” of the police.
IPCC commissioner Jan Williams said: “This failure was at its worst at the very time that his need was greatest. There could, and should, have been a very different response.
“Instead, his complaints about abusive neighbours were disbelieved and he was considered to be a liar, a nuisance and an attention seeker.
“Neighbours’ counter allegations were taken at face value and accepted, despite evidence to the contrary, and Bijan Ebrahimi found himself regarded as the perpetrator of the abuse, rather than as the victim.”
44-year-old Bijan Ebrahimi was an Iranian national
Officers treated Ebrahimi “consistently differently from his neighbours, to his detriment and without reasonable explanation”.
“Some of the evidence has the hallmarks of what could be construed as racial bias, conscious or unconscious,” Williams added.
One police officer and one PCSO were sent to prison for 10 months and four months, 17 police officers and staff faced disciplinary proceedings, and four people were dismissed.
Ebrahimi made one final call to police in the hour before he was murdered, begging them for help.
In response, PC Leanne Winter, one of those dismissed, said: “I’m absolutely not interested in speaking to him ever thanks… I don’t think anybody is, to be honest. He’s a pest.”
The IPCC said Avon & Somerset Constabulary was institutionally responsible for Ebrahimi’s death.
Chief constable Andy Marsh apologised for failing Ebrahimi “in his hour of need”.
He said: “We’ve made many changes since Mr Ebrahimi’s murder in response to the things we learnt and identified to be in need of change.
“Taken together, these changes have transformed the way we operate and we will do all in our power to prevent a repeat of the circumstances surrounding Mr Ebrahimi’s death.
“We must ensure this cannot happen again.”
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