Disabled refugee killed by a neighbour in Bristol had repeatedly warned that his life was in danger

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A police constable and a community support officer who failed in their duty to protect a disabled refugee before he was murdered by a misguided vigilante have been sent to prison.

PC Kevin Duffy was sentenced to 10 months at Bristol crown court on Tuesday, while PCSO Andrew Passmore was jailed for four months.

The pair were convicted of misconduct in a public office after a jury decided they had made criminally serious errors over the case of Bijan Ebrahimi.

The 44-year-old was punched and kicked to death outside his Bristol home and his body set on fire by neighbour Lee James, who wrongly suspected he was a paedophile.

Police had gone to Ebrahimi’s home three days before he was murdered after he told them James had burst in and threatened him, but they arrested Ebrahimi rather than James.

He spent the night in a police station and after being taken home made a string of calls to police, claiming his life was at risk from vigilantes. His pleas for protection went unheeded.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andrew Passmore (left) and Kevin Duffy have been dismissed from Avon and Somerset police. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

The jury in the trial heard that Duffy, 52, a beat manager who had had many contacts with Ebrahimi going back more than six years, believed he was a time-waster and serial complainer and let his antipathy towards him affect how he dealt with the case.

In the hours before he died, Ebrahimi rang to ask for help and said: “My life is in danger.” Duffy refused to go to see him. He told an operator: “I’ve no intentions of taking any calls from Bijan Ebrahimi … I will speak to him at my convenience.”

Harassed then beaten to death, Bijan Ebrahimi's calls for help were in vain Read more

Duffy did tell Passmore, 56, to patrol Capgrave Crescent, where Ebrahimi lived.

Passmore was to later claim he had patrolled for an hour on foot and by car but the prosecution said that, in fact, he had only driven up and down for two or three minutes.

The judge said: “I cannot go behind the jury’s verdicts and it is with a heavy heart that in each of your cases I take the view that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.



“It doesn’t seem to me a proper consequence of your wrongdoing that the sentences need be long. You have already suffered greatly. You have already lost your careers and in each of your cases there is genuine justification for mercy.



“You must not bear the responsibilities for the wider failings in the police which were beyond your control.”



Members of Duffy’s and Passmore’s families gasped and exclaimed “Jesus Christ” as the sentences were passed. Ebrahimi’s sisters were also in the public gallery for the hearing.



In a statement, Avon and Somerset police said: “Firstly, it is important to acknowledge that at the heart of this case is Bijan Ebrahimi’s family, who have had to endure protracted legal and procedural processes. They have done this with the utmost dignity and composure.



“Our sole aim is to fully understand the circumstances around Mr Ebrahimi’s treatment by our police officers and staff in the days leading up to his murder.”



It said it would not comment any further on the case to avoid prejudicing the pending disciplinary proceedings involving 15 members of staff and officers.

The gross misconduct hearings would be held in public at Police HQ in Portishead.



IPCC commissioner, Jan Williams, said both officers “were experienced in their roles, and should have served Mr Ebrahimi far better in how they responded at a time when he was highly vulnerable”.

Ian Stern QC, representing Duffy, told the court his client’s action had “no consequences” in Ebrahimi’s death.



He said: “You are dealing with someone who has given dedicated public service over many years. He has lost his good character, his employment and a significant financial sum for him and his family.



“He is a broken man and he will not work obviously in the areas in which he has hitherto worked and the public will be all the more poorer for that.”



Michael Borrelli QC, for Passmore, said his client was the carer for his elderly mother and stepfather and suffered from low IQ and memory recall.



He said: “Whatever he has done by writing that statement that he signed he didn’t act either in a deliberate or reckless disregard to a vulnerable member of the community that he served.



“He is someone who has demonstrated that at his core he is a good man who has spent time serving others.”



Passmore served in the army before joining Avon and Somerset police as a PCSO, the court heard.



Two other constables, Leanne Winter, 38, and Helen Harris, 40, who arrested Ebrahimi, were acquitted of misconduct in a public office.

In all, 18 police staff and officers, including sergeants and inspectors, face disciplinary proceedings over how Ebrahimi was dealt with in the days, months and years before he was murdered. Ebrahimi’s family have accused Avon and Somerset police of “institutional racism”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bijan Ebrahimi’s sisters Manizhah Moores (centre) and Ladin Ebrahimi with their solicitor Tony Murphy outside court. Photograph: Claire Hayhurst/PA

Speaking to the Guardian, Manizhah Moores, Ebrahimi’s sister, said: “I think there is a cultural problem – our understanding is there has been a culture of institutional racism and nobody has challenged it. They’ve been doing it for years and years.

“[The police] never dealt with his problems properly, they saw him as a repeated complainer. They disliked him for whatever reason.”

Tony Murphy, the family’s solicitor, said Ebrahimi had been a “repeat victim of race hate crime over many years” and that four officers faced disciplinary charges of race discrimination.

“[Ebrahimi’s] family are relieved that details of what happened have been brought to the public’s attention,” he said.



Duffy and Passmore have been dismissed from the force. James is serving life for murder.