THE HATE CRIME DOSSIER

As Disability Now launches its new hate crime campaign, we publish here for the first time our disturbing dossier of crimes against disabled people. Categorised by impairment, we also outline the responses given to us by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) police forces concerned.

LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

1. May 2006, Warrington
Craig Dodd and Ryan Palin were convicted of the manslaughter of Raymond Atherton, who was beaten, had his benefits stolen. His flat was used by them and he was urinated on.
CPS AND POLICE DID NOT NOT TREAT THE CRIME AS A HATE CRIME ALTHOUGH THE YOUTHS HAD ATTACKED OTHER DISABLED PEOPLE. SENTENCES WERE REDUCED ON APPEAL

2. June 2006, Lancaster
Rikki Judkins was murdered and robbed ­ no motive. The perpetrators tried to get their sentence (from 18 and 15 years) reduced and boasted about the murder to friends. They stole his money. At appeal court the judges upheld the sentence, describing it as ‘cowardly, vicious and
brutal’. Lord Justice Latham said the aggravating factors greatly outweighed the mitigation of their pleas
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME ­ CPS SAID JUDGE WAS UNCLEAR WHETHER DEFENDANTS KNEW OF HIS DISABILITY (JUDGE TOOK HIS VULNERABILITY INTO ACCOUNT INSTEAD)

3. July 2006, Cornwall
Steven Hoskin murdered by friends. Made to wear dog collar and lead and taunted (falsely) for being a paedophile. Money stolen regularly by his tormenters, who eventually forced him off a railway viaduct.
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BY POLICE OR CPS ­ DEVASTATING REPORT ABOUT THE FAILURE OF POLICE AND SOCIAL SERVICES TO FOLLOW UP ON MR HOSKIN’S VARIOUS APPEALS FOR HELP PUBLISHED LAST WEEK

4. July 2006, Wales
Barrie-John Horrell kidnapped and abducted by friends, who “leached off him”, in the words of the judge. Strangled. Murderers jailed in May 2007.
NOT TREATED AS HATE CRIME BY POLICE AND CPS

5. July 2006, Sheffield
A woman with learning difficulties, Shaowei He, was tortured, beaten with copper piping and wood embedded with nails and left to die of hypothermia by her husband’s mistress after being treated like a slave for months.
Her husband was the first man in Britain to plead guilty to ‘causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable person contrary to the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004’. His lover pleaded guilty to manslaughter and GBH. SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE - TREATED AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, NOT AS DISABILITY-RELATED

6. September 2006, Forest of Dean
Kevin Davies (epilepsy and learning difficulties), was tortured, kept in a shed, had his benefits stolen. Died in September. Captors jailed for unlawful detention ­ not murder - in July 2007.
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME ­ DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, KEN MACDONALD, SAID AT A PARLIAMENTARY MEETING THAT WHEN HE READ ABOUT THE CASE HE FELT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN AN UNDERLYING HOSTILITY TOWARDS MR DAVIES.

7. October, 2007, Leicestershire
Fiona Pilkington killed herself and her daughter Frankie, who had learning difficulties, after a hate campaign by local youths in the Leicestershire area in late autumn 2007. Local police recorded Ms Pilkington’s complaints as evidence of anti-social behaviour, not as an on-going hate crime.
NOT TREATED BY LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE AS HATE CRIME EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN TARGETED BECAUSE OF FRANKIE’S DISABLITY

8. October 27, 2007, Hartlepool
Christine Lakinski collapsed near her home. A crowd gathered, including her neighbour, Antony Anderson. He urinated over her as she lay dying, and encouraged a friend to film the event. Anderson was convicted of outraging public decency.
NOT TREATED AS HATE CRIME ­ CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE (CPS) SAID DEFENDANT CLAIMED THAT HE THOUGHT THE VICTIM WAS DRUNK OR ON DRUGS AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THE DEFENDANT KNEW SHE WAS DISABLED (HOWEVER, THEY WERE NEIGHBOURS AND SHE HAD A VISIBLE IMPAIRMENT)

9. October 16, 2007, Preston
Disabled man murdered by half-brother after alleged evidence of bullying and intimidation.
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME DESPITE ALLEGED EVIDENCE OF BULLYING AFTER THE BROTHER BECAME DISABLED

10. July 18, 2007, north Wales
Disabled man Christopher Foulkes attacked in his flat in Rhyl and found dead the next day ­ teenager kicked the man, threw a blanket over him, and punched him. The teenager had been regularly visiting him, truanting and stealing his cash. Murder charge dropped and the youth pleaded guilty to wounding with intent.
NORTH WALES POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME, SO DIDN’T VIEW IT AS SUCH, DESPITE THE HISTORY OF STEALING AND HUMILIATING HIM

11. January 24, 2007, Hartlepool
Man with learning difficulties robbed and attacked in toilet. Police said he was a ‘vulnerable adult’.
POLICE UNABLE TO LOCATE CASE

12. October, 2007, Southend
Thugs jailed for attack on a young man who has cerebral palsy and learning difficulties. Basildon Crown Court judge Phillip Clegg told the perpetrator (who had beaten the victim up before): “Not only was he a vulnerable victim, this took place at night and you threatened him with a knife.” Defendant pleaded guilty to robbery.
POLICE SAID THERE WAS A FINANCIAL MOTIVE ­ NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT

13. July 31, 2007, Birmingham
Craig Robins was left brain-injured by an attack (he was a wheelchair-user before the assault). He was attacked after a series of vandalism attacks on his adapted car, allegedly by the "WS12 gang". A mob of 30 people attacked him. Perpetrators were convicted of attempted murder and wounding with intent.
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME ­ CPS SAID: “There was no evidence that they even knew he was disabled ­ rather that the attack was in retribution for him taking issue with people he thought had damaged his car. There is no evidence that they even knew he was disabled, let alone were motivated by it,” said the reviewing lawyer, despite the fact that he was a wheelchair-user and drove an adapted car.

14. November 12, 2007, Doncaster. Disabled man Robert Griffiths died after being badly burned in an arson attack. Investigators revealed that there had been two previous attacks at the flats where he lived, but were not treating it as ‘disability targeted’ as there was ‘no evidence’ of a
disability related element. South Yorks police have launched a murder inquiry.
LIVE CASE, BUT NO ARRESTS OR CHARGES SO FAR

15. October 1, 2007, Liverpool
James Docherty forced out of his home after a three-year hate campaign – his home was burnt down in an arson attack.
He became a target for a gang of youths, aged 11-13, after he moved in ­ they called him “paedo” and “pervert”, and chucked stones at his windows and fired shotgun pellets at his home.
NOT RECORDED AS A HATE CRIME ­ MERSEYSIDE POLICE SAY VICTIM DIDN’T ASK FOR THEM TO DO SO - AFTER DISABILITY NOW ASKED THEM ABOUT THE CASE, SUPERINTENDENT ROLAND MOORE SAID HE WOULD LOOK AT THE CASE AGAIN TO SEE IF IT SHOULD BE CRIMED AS A HATE CRIME.

16. August 1, 2007, Birmingham
Disabled man who used a wheelchair (Jonathan Lea) struck by a pole-wielding motorist ­ he was taunted about his disability by a gang of youths and mocked for his disability by the perpetrator, who was found guilty of affray and possessing an offensive weapon.
WEST MIDLANDS - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

17. October 11, 2007, Blackpool
Disabled man too scared to leave his home after arson attack. He said it was just the latest in a catalogue of trouble. His mobility scooter had been stolen before.
LANCS POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

18. July 9, 2007, Northampton
A disabled man died after being robbed (Brian Shephard, wheelchair-user, aged 73). A postmortem showed he died from a head injury ­ possibly related to the incident in which two men stole property and tipped him out of his wheelchair.
NORTHANTS - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BUT AS A BURGLARY THAT WENT WRONG

19. Jan 13, 2007, Clacton
Barry O’Connell was punched in the face outside his local pub after another drinker started pushing and banging into his wheelchair. Mr O’Connell left the pub and was attacked ­ he was punched and left with severe bruising. His attackers tried to tip him out of his wheelchair and called him a “fucking cripple”. Mr O’Connell is “200 per cent” sure he was targeted because he was disabled and doesn’t know why it wasn’t treated as a hate crime. One teenager was convicted of assault in December 2007.
ESSEX POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME DESPITE EVIDENCE THAT HE WAS VERBALLY ASSAULTED FOR BEING A WHEELCHAIR USER

20. November 2, 2007, Liverpool
Disabled man Keith Gibson was battered with scaffolding by three men who stole money from him. Det Inspector Rob Hill of Merseyside Police, said: “This was a cowardly attack on a vulnerable member of society. Mr Gibson is a pensioner and partially disabled.”
NOT CRIMED AS HATE -  MERSEYSIDE POLICE - LOOKING AT IT AGAIN

21. October 19, 2007, Middlesbrough
A disabled man, Alan Marshall, had his false leg torn off in a nightclub attack. His assailant pleaded guilty to GBH and affray.
CLEVELAND POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME AS VICTIM DID NOT VIEW IT AS SUCH

22. On or around 26 September, 2007, a disabled man was attacked by an armed gang in Greater Manchester. The wheelchair-user was attacked in Blandford St, Ashford Under Lyme, when the trio demanded cash and cigarettes before
slashing him with a wire claw and cut his chest with a craft knife.
GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE SAID THE CRIME WAS TREATED AS A ROBBERY, NOT A HATE CRIME.

23. May 23, 2007, Cardiff
Teen prostitute robbed a disabled pensioner for tobacco.
Prosecutor Julian Greenwood told a court that the perpetrator had pushed the frail man into a quiet lane, shook him about, tipped him out of his wheelchair, accused him of being a paedophile and stole from him. She knew him from the street where they both lived.
SOUTH WALES POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

24. May 2006, Derby
Disabled man was hospitalised after being repeatedly stabbed in his own home by two men. Det Con Tony Owen said: “It seems to be a savage attack on a disabled man at his home address with no motive. It seems to be a pre-meditated attack involving a weapon.” His dogs were also attacked.
DERBYSHIRE POLICE - TREATED AS AN AGGRAVATED BURGLARY, NOT AS A DISABILITY HATE CRIME

25. Oct 31, 2007, Stoke
Wheelchair-user Adam Rees, who has cerebral palsy and learning difficulties, was pelted with eggs by youths.
STAFFS POLICE – IS BEING TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

26. November 1, 2007, Birmingham ­ Disabled chef Andrew Deeming, who uses crutches and wears callipers, was walking though an alley. He was approached by two men and dragged to the floor. His bag, containing money, was stolen. He was
left helpless on the floor. Mr Deeming was convinced that he was targeted because he was disabled, according to local newspaper reports. Detective Constable Gareth Knowles, from the Queens Road robbery team, said: "This was a disgraceful incident where a vulnerable victim appears to have been deliberately targeted and subjected to a cowardly attack. We are anxious to trace the persons responsible and ensure that they are held accountable for their actions."
West Midlands police said in a statement to Disability Now: “The incident was crimed as ‘Robbery ­ personal property’.
Unless there is evidence that offenders committed a crime because they disliked what a person(s) represented to them, then the crime is purely a case of offenders targeting a vulnerable individual.”
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BY WEST MIDLANDS POLICE

27. Nov 6, 2007, Pitsea
Woman robbed while using her mobility scooter.
Essex police said: "We do not believe the woman was targeted as the subject of a hate crime. Officers are dealing with it as an opportunistic theft."

28,29,30
Oct 18, 2007, Midlands
Eastern European couple targeted three disabled women in one day (one on a mobility scooter, one in a wheelchair and one other older woman) in the West Mercia area.
WEST MERCIA POLICE - ROBBERY WAS NOT TREATED AS DISABILITY-RELATED

31. September 25, 2007, Grimsby
Wheelchair-user Andy Wilson was tied to his scooter while yobs stole his shopping.
NO EVIDENCE OF NAME-CALLING SO NOT TREATED AS HATE CRIME

32. October 13, 2007, Liverpool
Wheelchair-using gran, Dorothy Hodson, was smashed in her face with a chair. Offender was jailed for six months - the chairman of magistrates described it as a “reckless assault on a vulnerable lady in a wheelchair”.
MERSEYSIDE POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME

33. Jan 8, 2007, Colne, Lancashire
Disabled man Christopher Ridge was tipped out of his scooter and left trapped underneath during a robbery.
Drug addict John Ibbotson was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a young offenders institution after admitting assault with intent to rob ­ Recorder Maurice Green told Ibbotson that he had “targeted a vulnerable vicim”.
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BY LANCASHIRE POLICE

34. September 28, 2007, Manchester
Disabled ex-serviceman Dennis Meeha was allegedly bundled out of his wheelchair and robbed.
GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE DID NOT FLAG IT AS A HATE CRIME

35. September 19, 2007, Rugby
Wheelchair-using woman fought off nine attackers who tried to drag her off her scooter.
WARWICKSHIRE POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BECAUSE FAMILY DID NOT ASK FOR IT TO BE TREATED AS SUCH

36. July 9, 2007, Newcastle
Man attacked amputee Peter Knox, who was out shopping, and tried to tip him out of his wheelchair ­ perpetrator was found guilty of assault, after a hearing at Newcastle magistrates court.
NORTHUMBRIA POLICE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER TO CHECK WHETHER TREATED AS HATE CRIME

37. July 2007, Worcester
A disabled woman was tipped out her wheelchair by two drunken men, who pushed her in her wheelchair then kicked and overturned it.
WEST MERCIA HATE CRIMES OFFICERS LOOKED AT IT AS A POTENTIAL HATE CRIME, BUT DECIDED NOT TO TREAT IT AS ONE

38. July 7, 2007, Sheffield
Disabled man was pushed from his wheelchair and searched and robbed. DS Wayne Sanderson said: "This is an example of a thief picking on a vulnerable person who was visiting the
city…(HE) identified an easy target"
WAITING TO HEAR FROM SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE

39. Feb 13, 2007, Warrington
Elderly disabled couple, Terence and Elsie Mullee, had both their scooters stolen.
CHESHIRE POLICE - TREATED AS A ROBBERY, NOT INVESTIGATED AS A HATE CRIME

40. August 2006, Swansea
Disabled holidaymaker tipped out of his wheelchair by a man and a woman ­ he was also robbed.
SOUTH WALES POLICE - NOT TREATED AS HATE CRIME

SENSORY IMPAIRMENT

41. April 2007, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Blind dad Colin Greenwood kicked to death by teen killers Lewis Barlow and Leon Gray, both 14 at the time, who kicked him in the head for “fun” as he waited for a tram. They were jailed for a minimum of 12 years. They boasted to friends about the unprovoked attack. They were found guilty of murder and GBH. Judge Alan Goldsack said “it was gratuitious, unprovoked and systematic violence”.
Lisa Collier, who came to his assistance, told the court: “He had tears in his eyes. He needed to apparently use a white stick but he told me that he chose not to because it attracted attention from people and he’d been attacked before.” Detective sergeant Richard Fewkes, the senior investigating officer, said: “This investigation was treated as a murder investigation in line with national standards. Significant resources were allocated to the enquiry. The investigation did centre around the
victim's vulnerability and the motive of the offenders was explored in interview.”
NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME BY SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE

42. 16 June 2006, Liverpool
A deaf young man with cerebral palsy and learning difficulties was attacked and tied up in his home – he was found with his jaw broken and severe bruising the next day. Michael Woods and Dean Bartley were convicted of false imprisonment after the court heard they had imprisoned and beaten up Mr Gillings, who also had a communication impairment. They also stole his money, and stamped on his head.
NOT RECORDED AS A HATE CRIME BECAUSE VICTIM (WHO CANNOT SPEAK AND HAS LEARNING DIFFICULTIES) DID NOT ASK FOR IT TO BE TREATED AS SUCH ­ MERSEYSIDE POLICE ARE LOOKING AT THE CRIMING AGAIN AFTER DISABILITY NOW’S QUERY

43. November 2007, Accrington
A deaf youth with cerebral palsy was attacked and robbed in Accrington as he walked to work.
LANCASHIRE POLICE CONFIRMED THAT CRIME WAS RECORDED AND INVESTIGATED AS A HATE CRIME

44. November 9, 2007, Princes Risborough, Bucks
A blind man was verbally abused and spat at by a group of boys. Kiera Bently, chief exec of Bucks Association for Blind and Partially Sighted People, said the man was “verbally abused and was knocked around. Usually he is a confident traveller, but it has affected his confidence”. She added that her group had been learning self-defence for blind people and had found that many members felt insecure.
THAMES VALLEY POLICE HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO SEVERAL CALLS ON THIS

45. October 24, 2007, Liverpool
John Fenton, who is blind and has epilepsy, was left lying in a pool of blood after being attacked by former friend Carl Hughes, who had often borrowed money from him in the past. Hughes pleaded guilty to GBH.
NOT CRIMED AS A HATE CRIME BY MERSEYSIDE POLICE

46. 2006, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
Julian Goldsmith, a blind man, lost all his belongings when his flat was broken into and set on fire. WAITING TO HEAR IF IT WAS DISABILITY TARGETED BY AVON AND SOMERSET POLICE

47. March 2006, Blackwood, Gwent
Nicky Jenkins, who is deaf and has learning difficulties, was too scared to leave his house after he was beaten up in Blackwood.
GWENT POLICE - NOT TREATED AS HATE CRIME

AUTISM

46. May 2006, Thames Valley
Sean Miles, a man with autism, was murdered and robbed by friends in the Thames Valley area. Edward Doyle, 34, was described on April 18 as the prime mover in the killing of Mr Miles, 37, after a jury at Oxford Crown Court found Doyle guilty of murder. Terry McMaster, 24, and Karen Fathers, 35, were also found guilty of murdering Mr Miles, who was beaten, knifed in the head and then drowned in the Thames last May amid allegations that he was a paedophile. The jury had heard how the killers watched as Mr Miles floundered in the river. He was poked with a stick to stop him getting out before he drowned. Another woman was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter.
CPS DID NOT TREAT IT AS A HATE CRIME - BUT SAID THAT THE VICTIM’S VULNERABILITY WAS A FACTOR IN LENGTH OF SENTENCE.
THAMES VALLEY POLICE HAVE NOT RESPONDED TO OUR FREQUENT INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS CASE

UNNAMED DISABILITIES

49. Newcastle
Two young men were convicted of assault, after subjecting a 12-year-old boy in Newcastle to a weekend of torture, which they filmed. They were jailed for four months.
NORTHUMBRIA POLICE ­ THE INVESTIGATING OFFICER SAID THAT THE POLICE WERE WELL AWARE OF THE BOY’S DISABILITY, AND SAID THAT ONE OF THE REASONS THE TWO ASSAILANTS WERE SENT AWAY WAS BECAUSE OF THE DISABILITY ASPECTS OF THE CASE. BUT HE WAS TREATED AS A “VULNERABLE” BOY AND IT WAS NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME.

50. April 2007, Cardiff
A disabled man was attacked in Cardiff city centre by a gang of teenagers, who jeered at him as one of them hit him repeatedly in the face. He later had an epileptic seizure.
SOUTH WALES POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME ­ JUST AS ‘ANOTHER’ CRIME

51. February 2007, Cardiff.
A disabled woman was mugged for her handbag, in Grangetown, Cardiff.
SOUTH WALES POLICE - NOT TREATED AS A HATE CRIME