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QuoteThe Suicide Mother Abandoned To Bullies
A baying mob routinely surrounded the home of Fiona Pilkington.
She cowered inside with her disabled teenage daughter Francecca and son Anthony, desperate for help.
For more than a decade, the 38-year-old single mother endured stone-throwing youths who would shout obscenities, assault her children and leave the family under siege at their home in Barwell, Leicestershire.
They even suffered death threats.
Anthony, now 19, was locked in a shed at knifepoint and beaten with a metal bar.
Francecca was constantly taunted because of her disabilities. She was incontinent and couldn't be left unattended.
Stones were thrown at her bedroom window as she went to bed, along with shouts demanding that she lift up her nightdress. Yobs mimicked the way she walked.
Their mother was described as shy, timid and vulnerable.
One youth would stand outside the house and shout:" We can do anything we like and you can't do anything about it."
Repeated calls to the police came to nothing. On one occasion Ms Pilkington was told to close the curtains and ignore the children.
Another time an officer said she was 'over reacting.'
No prosecutions were ever brought.
In seven years, she made 33 calls to the police, 13 in the last year of her life.
Her final cry for help was on the day she decided she could take no more.
She drove herself and Francecca to a lay-by not far from their home, doused the inside of the car in petrol and set it alight. The car exploded and they were burnt beyond recognition.
The pair had to be identified by DNA samples taken from relatives.
At the inquest into their deaths at Loughborough Town Hall, Assistant Deputy Coroner Olivia Davison asked why common sense and basic old fashioned policing had not come to their aid.
The jury at the inquest found that the police's failure to respond to the family's pleas for help contributed to their deaths.
Chris Tew, a former assistant chief constable of Leicestershire Police, said the biggest problem had been the failure to link the incidents and to realise that they were prompted by the family's disabilities.
Many of the incidents were not classed as crimes but as anti-social behaviour.
After the deaths, police changed their policy so that repeated crimes against disabled people were marked as "hate crimes" and given greater priority.
He defended the lack of any prosecutions saying Ms Pilkington was not prepared to pursue her complaints through the courts. She feared reprisals.
Mr Tew informed the inquest that the force was training more officers to spot vulnerable people who were either physically or mentally disabled.
"This family was patently vulnerable to the eye, you don't need training," said Ms Davison.
Fiona Pilkington and her daughter left behind grieving relatives, a police force under fire for failing them and issues which go far beyond a guilt ridden community in Leicestershire.
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable; probably the harassment was not of the type that would push an average person to a suicide/infanticide. Still quite a shitty situation - the problem is to what extent this can be avoided? I imagine the police have to deal with more situations like this and it is often a difficult call which to investigate and which to write off as an overreaction.
The thing is you have to take your victim as you find them. The fact some other people might not have taken it this strongly doesn't mean the police should ignore it.
I would have thought further police investigation would be warranted. It sounds like a textbook case of Criminal Harassment to me. :mellow:
Quote from: Barrister on September 29, 2009, 11:03:28 AM
The thing is you have to take your victim as you find them. The fact some other people might not have taken it this strongly doesn't mean the police should ignore it.
I would have thought further police investigation would be warranted. It sounds like a textbook case of Criminal Harassment to me. :mellow:
Yeah. My point was that the police probably do not have enough resources to deal with all cases of this type (I am not talking about an investigation now, of course, but at the time she was making complaints) so some sort of a judgement call needs to be applied to separate cases of "overreaction" from a genuine threat. The problem with any judgement call is that it is sometimes wrong - but that doesn't necessarily mean the system itself is wrong (although it could also mean that).
The thing, especially in this day and age of media attention, is that sometimes whatever you do, you are blamed. In different circumstances the same kind of story could be reported as "Police harass local youths based on exaggerated complaints from a crazy local lady."
If she was going to kill herself, she should've taken some of the bastards with her.
What is with Europeans?
Also what's a "Yob"?
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 10:33:57 AM
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable
Having your house surrounded for 7 years by a baying mob armed with knives and metal bars will do that to you
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on September 29, 2009, 12:23:00 PM
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 10:33:57 AM
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable
Having your house surrounded for 7 years by a baying mob armed with knives and metal bars will do that to you
I am trying to figure out how the police wouldn't have the resources to deal with
years of this, by I presume the same parties.
Someone willing to kill themselves and their daughter in such a manner is likely not in the pink of mental health, which may have resulted in presenting herself to the cops in such a manner as to give the impression she was bullshitting.
This doesn't excuse the neglect, but it may well be the explaination for it.
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 11:09:04 AM
Yeah. My point was that the police probably do not have enough resources to deal with all cases of this type (I am not talking about an investigation now, of course, but at the time she was making complaints) so some sort of a judgement call needs to be applied to separate cases of "overreaction" from a genuine threat. The problem with any judgement call is that it is sometimes wrong - but that doesn't necessarily mean the system itself is wrong (although it could also mean that).
The thing, especially in this day and age of media attention, is that sometimes whatever you do, you are blamed. In different circumstances the same kind of story could be reported as "Police harass local youths based on exaggerated complaints from a crazy local lady."
While I agree, would you be singing the tune if it were people being harassed because they were gay?
shitty situation, in AL this would not have happened:
the bullies would have all be shot the second time they showed up, the mother would be in prison for it and the disabled teen would be in some shitty state run nursing home.
Quote from: Faeelin on September 29, 2009, 12:25:19 PM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on September 29, 2009, 12:23:00 PM
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 10:33:57 AM
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable
Having your house surrounded for 7 years by a baying mob armed with knives and metal bars will do that to you
I am trying to figure out how the police wouldn't have the resources to deal with years of this, by I presume the same parties.
Really?! WTF?!?
So nothing could be done by parents of the thug minded kids, nor the police, nor anything done as this went on for years? And who are the deranged wackos of the local neighborhood who feel so compelled to harass defenseless people, including a young girl? :mad:
Quote from: garbon on September 29, 2009, 12:54:37 PM
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 11:09:04 AM
Yeah. My point was that the police probably do not have enough resources to deal with all cases of this type (I am not talking about an investigation now, of course, but at the time she was making complaints) so some sort of a judgement call needs to be applied to separate cases of "overreaction" from a genuine threat. The problem with any judgement call is that it is sometimes wrong - but that doesn't necessarily mean the system itself is wrong (although it could also mean that).
The thing, especially in this day and age of media attention, is that sometimes whatever you do, you are blamed. In different circumstances the same kind of story could be reported as "Police harass local youths based on exaggerated complaints from a crazy local lady."
While I agree, would you be singing the tune if it were people being harassed because they were gay?
:blush:
Quote from: KRonn on September 29, 2009, 01:47:08 PM
Quote from: Faeelin on September 29, 2009, 12:25:19 PM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on September 29, 2009, 12:23:00 PM
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 10:33:57 AM
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable
Having your house surrounded for 7 years by a baying mob armed with knives and metal bars will do that to you
I am trying to figure out how the police wouldn't have the resources to deal with years of this, by I presume the same parties.
Really?! WTF?!?
So nothing could be done by parents of the thug minded kids, nor the police, nor anything done as this went on for years? And who are the deranged wackos of the local neighborhood who feel so compelled to harass defenseless people, including a young girl? :mad:
Quote from: KRonn on September 29, 2009, 01:47:08 PM
Quote from: Faeelin on September 29, 2009, 12:25:19 PM
Quote from: DisturbedPervert on September 29, 2009, 12:23:00 PM
Quote from: Martinus on September 29, 2009, 10:33:57 AM
Not sure if the mother was fully mentally stable
Having your house surrounded for 7 years by a baying mob armed with knives and metal bars will do that to you
I am trying to figure out how the police wouldn't have the resources to deal with years of this, by I presume the same parties.
Really?! WTF?!?
So nothing could be done by parents of the thug minded kids, nor the police, nor anything done as this went on for years? And who are the deranged wackos of the local neighborhood who feel so compelled to harass defenseless people, including a young girl? :mad:
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
Quote from: dps on September 29, 2009, 03:09:41 PM
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
OBVIOUS CONCLUSION: British people are more eviller than American people.
Quote from: lustindarkness on September 29, 2009, 01:27:22 PM
shitty situation, in AL this would not have happened:
the bullies would have all be shot the second time they showed up, the mother would be in prison for it and the disabled teen would be in some shitty state run nursing home.
Depends, does Alabama have the castle doctrine? Mom might not even end up in prison.
Quote from: Caliga on September 29, 2009, 03:23:14 PM
Quote from: dps on September 29, 2009, 03:09:41 PM
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
OBVIOUS CONCLUSION: British people are more eviller than American people.
Well, duh, of course they are. That's why we threw off our British oppressors back in '76.
Have the basic facts been confirmed, or did this story basically take the mother's word from the police reports?
Quote from: KRonn on September 29, 2009, 01:47:08 PM
So nothing could be done by parents of the thug minded kids, nor the police, nor anything done as this went on for years?
Remember, these are poor people doing the harrassing. Think Jos and his family.
The parents would be outraged if anyone suggested that their children weren't flawless. That's the way scum is.
Quote from: dps on September 29, 2009, 03:09:41 PM
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
I don't know, it sounds plausible. Certainly the following her home and taunting her and the throwing rocks. The metal bar bit's obviously very extreme.
Quote from: Caliga on September 29, 2009, 03:23:14 PM
Quote from: dps on September 29, 2009, 03:09:41 PM
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
OBVIOUS CONCLUSION: British people are more eviller than American people.
Hollywood would agree with you; after all, when they want a man capable of portraying real villainty they send for a British thespian.
As for the case, I think I have some sympathy for the police. From what I've heard on the television news, the harassment had gone on for years BUT the lady in question seems to have called the police only a few times, with months between calls. I suspect this lead to all the incidents being treated as separate isolated occurrences rather than part of a more serious pattern that demanded urgent action.
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 08:36:33 AM
Hollywood would agree with you; after all, when they want a man capable of portraying real villainty they send for a British thespian.
I learned about the American Revolution from the movie
The Patriot. I therefore believe the British = Nazis. :hug:
Quote from: dps on September 29, 2009, 03:09:41 PM
I think that there has to be more to this story. I mean, when I was in school, I could have seen people calling a disabled student names on the playground or in the cafeteria, but following her home to taunt her there? And throwing rocks at her house, and locking her older brother in a shed and beating him with a metal bar? There's got to be more to this than just making fun of a handicapped girl.
I was thinking that also, but I also felt that would be getting into blaming the victim more, or that what ever the case it shouldn't have gotten so far anyway.
ok, I'm going to write a thread summary:
it's important that the youth, both gay and not gay, avoid the media slander and are vindicated for their recurring neighbourhood engagements with crazy lady and crippled daughter. the police should also be commended, as clearly they have gone beyond the call of duty.
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on September 29, 2009, 11:19:57 AM
If she was going to kill herself, she should've taken some of the bastards with her.
Or at least killed herself and her child in a less horrible and painful way. :(
Quote from: Caliga on September 30, 2009, 09:15:39 AM
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 08:36:33 AM
Hollywood would agree with you; after all, when they want a man capable of portraying real villainty they send for a British thespian.
I learned about the American Revolution from the movie The Patriot. I therefore believe the British = Nazis. :hug:
Mel Gibson's made a few films that kinda grate in the UK.
I can recall sitting through a rare genuine family get-together (Aunts uncles, cousins, grandparents etc.) with Braveheart on in the background to the after-dinner conversations. You had the science teacher complaining that metallurgy was not good enough in those days to decapitate a man through armour, the historian asking how you could portray the battle of Stirling Bridge without the Bridge, and the Scottish uncle moaning about Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace as a woad painted barbarian, an image denigrating to Scots. :D
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 05:16:56 PM
Mel Gibson's made a few films that kinda grate in the UK.
I can recall sitting through a rare genuine family get-together (Aunts uncles, cousins, grandparents etc.) with Braveheart on in the background to the after-dinner conversations. You had the science teacher complaining that metallurgy was not good enough in those days to decapitate a man through armour, the historian asking how you could portray the battle of Stirling Bridge without the Bridge, and the Scottish uncle moaning about Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace as a woad painted barbarian, an image denigrating to Scots. :D
And yet nobody complained about Breaveheart getting a 2-year old girl pregnant? No wonder Polanski is tolerated in Europe.
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 05:16:56 PM
You had the science teacher complaining that metallurgy was not good enough in those days to decapitate a man through armour
Really?
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 30, 2009, 05:43:19 PM
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 05:16:56 PM
You had the science teacher complaining that metallurgy was not good enough in those days to decapitate a man through armour
Really?
Would make a good segment on Mythbusters.
Quote from: Tonitrus on September 30, 2009, 05:50:42 PM
Would make a good segment on Mythbusters.
Let's ask them. They've sucked big time lately.
So long as they blow stuff up I'm happy.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 30, 2009, 05:43:19 PM
Quote from: Agelastus on September 30, 2009, 05:16:56 PM
You had the science teacher complaining that metallurgy was not good enough in those days to decapitate a man through armour
Really?
I haven't got a clue. The science teacher in question was my Uncle Tony, a man who took apart the first ZX80 computer he had and put it in a box with a proper keyboard due to his dislike of Sir Clive's design. He's a man who's "always right" so he'd fit in quite well here at Languish.
I actually think he's wrong in this case, given what I know of the history of swords. On the other hand, we're not far past the era where it was considered unusual for a man in full armour to be injured on a battlefield (there's an account of a battle from the period or slightly earlier where the only casualty among the armoured participants was a man who'd had a sword point go through his helmet's visor. He was sitting upright on the battlefield and they had no idea why he wasn't moving until they took his helmet off...at least according to a history lecturer back at my old university. So he could be right.
Quote from: Razgovory on September 30, 2009, 05:58:05 PM
So long as they blow stuff up I'm happy.
It's the opposite for me. I'm sure being close an explosion is great fun, but somehow watching them all squeal in fake excitement on TV is not very interesting.
Quote from: Barrister on September 29, 2009, 11:03:28 AM
The thing is you have to take your victim as you find them. The fact some other people might not have taken it this strongly doesn't mean the police should ignore it.
I would have thought further police investigation would be warranted. It sounds like a textbook case of Criminal Harassment to me. :mellow:
Reminds me of that New York case with the attorney that repeatedly threatened his mistress or girlfriend or whatever, and the police did nothing--at least, until he threw acid in her face.
When he got out of jail, they got married. :rolleyes:
The lesson is that cops are often worthless and the bomber almost always gets through. Also, that states should be liable for failure to protect the citizens who've paid for the state's protection--otherwise, what's a state for?
Anyway, kids that give disabled people a hard time to this degree should be shot. Or perhaps merely crippled.
Does the "eggshell skull"/take your victim as you find them rule still apply in Britain? I have no idea...
You will maybe recall we had a similar case here in Sweden a while back that culminated with the father gunning down two of the assailants with a shotgun, killing one and grievously wounding the other.
The story was very similar, and both the police and the responsible communal functions seriously dropped the ball.
To me, it's incomprehensible how people can act this way in the first place, but the biggest problem I have with these cases is that while the victims aren't getting helped by the police, neither are they allowed to protect themselves.
Quote from: Ideologue on September 30, 2009, 10:05:56 PM
Also, that states should be liable for failure to protect the citizens who've paid for the state's protection--otherwise, what's a state for?
To provide a framework under which to undertake organized violence against other groups.
Quote from: Neil on October 01, 2009, 08:14:25 AM
Quote from: Ideologue on September 30, 2009, 10:05:56 PM
Also, that states should be liable for failure to protect the citizens who've paid for the state's protection--otherwise, what's a state for?
To provide a framework under which to undertake organized violence against other groups.
Groups, yes--and individuals within the group that threaten it. ;)