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| Bijan Ebrahimi: Murdered disabled Iranian refugee failed by police and council's 'institutional racism' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| “Institutional racism” caused police and a council to side with the abusers of a disabled refugee in the lead-up to his brutal murder, a report has found. | |
| The Safer Bristol Partnership (SBP) said there had been a “collective failure” to protect Bijan Ebrahimi before he was killed and set on fire by his neighbour in 2013. | |
| The body said that although neither Avon and Somerset Constabulary or Bristol City Council had been intentionally racist, both organisations “repeatedly sided with abusers” who falsely accused the refugee of being a paedophile and targeted him with death threats and abuse. | |
| Even as Mr Ebrahimi made repeated formal complaints of racism against his predominantly white neighbours, he was handed an anti-social behaviour order and they were not reprimanded. | |
| The SBP said he was treated as a “primary perpetrator, rather than the primary victim” of abuse and mistreatment that started five years before he was killed. | |
| “On occasions, Mr Ebrahimi was treated with disrespect and even contempt by some police officers,” it concluded, added that some officers and council staff wrongly claimed his reports were “dishonest”. | |
| “This review must consider what the causes were of this systemically inappropriate approach to Mr Ebrahimi…there is evidence of both discriminatory behaviour and institutional racism on the part of Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Constabulary.” | |
| Lee James was jailed for life for murdering Mr Ebrahimi in Capgrave Crescent on 14 July 2013 and Stephen Norley was jailed for four years for assisting an offender. | |
| In a separate investigation that concluded in July, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Avon and Somerset Constabulary responded poorly to 85 telephone calls from Mr Ebrahimi from 2007 onwards. | In a separate investigation that concluded in July, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Avon and Somerset Constabulary responded poorly to 85 telephone calls from Mr Ebrahimi from 2007 onwards. |
| The Iranian man had repeatedly reported being victimised by his neighbours, including death threats, criminal damage and racial abuse, but police officers and staff “repeatedly failed to take action to protect him” or record a crime in 40 incidents. | The Iranian man had repeatedly reported being victimised by his neighbours, including death threats, criminal damage and racial abuse, but police officers and staff “repeatedly failed to take action to protect him” or record a crime in 40 incidents. |
| The IPCC said he was never fully recognised as a victim of racial abuse by authorities, who considered him “to be a liar, a nuisance and an attention seeker” and believed his neighbours instead. | |
| At a trial in 2015, a police constable and police community support officer were convicted of misconduct in public office and dismissed over Mr Ebrahimi’s case. | |
| Two other officers were acquitted at trial but later fired for gross misconduct by Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which gave four other staff involved written warnings. | |
| Publication of the SBP’s multi-agency learning review was delayed to avoid prejudicing the trials and IPCC investigation | |
| Alison Comley, chair of the body, said the murder of Mr Ebrahimi shocked Bristol and thanked his family for their “dignity and strength”. | |
| “As chair of the partnership I am sorry for the collective failure of organisations to support Mr Ebrahimi as a victim of anti-social behaviour and hate crime,” she added, pledging that lasting changes had been made. | |
| “We did not wait until this review was published to make improvements.” | |
| Marvin Rees, the mayor of Bristol, offered a “sincere and wholehearted” apology for Mr Ebrahimi’s treatment and vowed to continue improvements in his memory. | |
| Mr Rees said the council accepted all of the independent’s review’s findings, including of discriminatory behaviour and institutional racism, adding: “We apologise for failing to adequately support Bijan as a victim. | |
| “We would like once again to offer our sincere condolences, remorse and apologise to Bijan’s family.” |