Three experienced police constables and a community support officer failed to deal with complaints made by a vulnerable disabled man in the 48 hours before he was murdered and his body set on fire by vigilantes, a court has heard.

The three constables let their dislike of the victim, Bijan Ebrahimi, who was mistaken for a paedophile by neighbours, influence their approach to a “toxic situation”, Bristol crown court was told.

Ebrahimi, 44, was punched and kicked until he fell unconscious on a green outside his flat in Bristol. His body was then set on fire. One of his neighbours, Lee James, is serving a life sentence for his murder.

In the days before the attack, Ebrahimi reported that James had assaulted him. When police visited, James was “foaming at the mouth” and “vigilantism was in the air”, the jury heard. But the officers arrested Ebrahimi rather than James. Ebrahimi continued to seek help from the police but they failed to protect him, the court heard.

Police constables Helen Harris, 40, Leanne Winter, 38, and Kevin Duffy, 52, and police community support officer Andrew Passmore, 55, all deny misconduct in public office.

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said Ebrahimi had fallen out with a number of neighbours on a council estate in Brislington, south-east Bristol. “Some of them thought quite wrongly that Mr Ebrahimi was a paedophile,” said the prosecutor.

On Thursday 11 July 2013, Ebrahimi called police saying he had been assaulted by James. Winter and Harris were sent to deal with the complaint. At the scene, James “was boasting that he would do time to protect his children”, Aylett said.

The prosecutor suggested it was clear that James was thinking of taking the law into his own hands. James was not alone. “A crowd had gathered outside Mr Ebrahimi’s flat,” said Aylett. “Most, if not all, had taken Lee James’s side.”

However, Winter and Harris ended up arresting Ebrahimi. Aylett said: “Thereafter they did nothing to ensure that Mr Ebrahimi’s original complaint was properly investigated. Lee James’s ugly threat was simply overlooked.”

Ebrahimi was released the next morning, 12 July. That day he made 12 calls to police in the hope that the local police beat manager Duffy, whose job included tackling antisocial behaviour, would deal with his complaint against James.

Aylett said it was clear that Duffy did not like Ebrahimi and believed him to be a “perpetual liar”. He was asked a “number of times” by police operators to call on Ebrahimi. He replied that he was busy and would call on Ebrahimi in “his own good time”. Aylett said Duffy regarded Ebrahimi as a nuisance and never found the time to visit him.

Duffy asked Passmore, whose role included protecting vulnerable people, to patrol the area around Ebrahimi’s flat. The court was told that after Ebrahimi’s murder, Passmore claimed he had spent 40 minutes on foot patrol on the estate and a further 20 minutes in adjoining streets. But the prosecutor claimed that Passmore only carried out a “cursory” patrol in a car.

On 13 July, Ebrahimi continued to try to speak to Duffy, the prosecution claimed. But nothing was done to show James that police were at least keeping an eye on him. “He must have thought he could simply do as he pleased,” said Aylett. “This was a potentially toxic situation that called for proactive and effective policing.”

At 1am on Sunday 14 July, James attacked Ebrahimi on a green outside his flat. He punched and kicked him until he lost consciousness and, helped by another man, set his body on fire. “The only mercy is that Mr Ebrahimi must have been unconscious before he was set alight,” the prosecutor said. James later pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for life, the court heard.

The jury was also shown a video made by Ebrahimi that sees James shouting at him “I’m going to fuck you up”.

Jurors were told the confrontation happened after James apparently spotted Ebrahimi taking photos of him and his three daughters on the green outside. The court was told Ebrahimi was doing this to gather evidence of antisocial behaviour. James thought he had a sexual interest in his daughters.



After Ebrahimi went outside to tend his flowers, James barged in and Ebrahimi said he was headbutted, the court heard. He dialled 999, two officers attended but decided the filmed confrontation was “not enough evidence to justify arresting James”.

After looking at the photos, the pair were also satisfied there was nothing sexual about them, the court heard. But instead of explaining that to James, he was simply told his neighbour had been photographing his kids. Aylett said: “[James] said something like ‘I knew it’ and marched straight off.”

Aylett said the response to Ebrahimi’s complaints was not “mere incompetence”. Duffy, Winter and Harris had allowed their dislike of Ebrahimi to influence their approach to his allegations, the jury was told.

The prosecutor said each of the officers was experienced and had done things in their careers to be proud of. He added: “The failings of each of them fell so far below that which the public are entitled to expect that in each case it amounts to the common law offence of misconduct in a public office.”

Aylett said Ebrahimi was born in Iran in 1969. He came to the UK in 2000 and was granted indefinite leave to remain the following year.

In 2007, he fell out with neighbours at a previous address and his front door and car were set alight. Bristol city council stepped in and he was moved to Capgrave Crescent, where he was living at the time of his murder. He lived alone, had mobility problems and was registered disabled. He was also suffering from depression.

The trial continues.