Police and council ‘institutionally racist’ prior to Bijan Ebrahimi murder

Police and council officers viewed a disabled refugee, who was brutally murdered, as a “persistent nuisance and part of the problem”, an independent report has found.

Collective failings and institutional racism surrounding the death of Bijan Ebrahimi have been set out in a damning analysis by The Safer Bristol Partnership (SBP), published on Monday, December 18.

The Iranian refugee was set on fire by his neighbour, Lee James, in a fatal attack at his Brislington home on July 14 2013. His murder followed years of abuse from tormenters, who mistakenly believed him to be a paedophile.

The SBP report finds that Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Bristol City Council officers “repeatedly sided with his abusers”.

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Mayor Marvin Rees has “apologised wholeheartedly” to the victim’s family on behalf of the council, while the police force has recognised and accepted the report’s findings, echoing sincere apologies.

The report says: “There is nothing racist in the intentions or established policies and procedures of either organisation. Nevertheless, there is evidence that Mr Ebrahimi was repeatedly targeted for racist abuse and victimisation by some members of the public, that this was repeatedly reported to the police and council and that representatives of both organisations repeatedly sided with his abusers.”

Between 2007 and his murder, Ebrahimi made 85 calls to police to report a range of crimes, including racial abuse, criminal damage and threats to kill him.

His sister witnessed him being called, “foreigner”, “cockroach”, “Paki” and told to, “Go back to your own country”.

The SBP adds: “What appears clear from the actions of the police and council teams was that a judgement was formed, wrongly and collectively, over a period that Mr Ebrahimi was the primary problem.

“When this incorrect view was formed, there is clear evidence to show that it led to him being wrongly regarded in a prejudicial light. Reports that he later made were wrongly regarded with suspicion and crimes that he reported were often not investigated or even recorded as crimes.”

The report also states that, despite knowing about the incorrect accusations, the authorities took no steps to correct the prevailing view among neighbours that Ebrahimi was a paedophile.

44-year-old Bijan Ebrahimi was an Iranian national

The ‘Multi Agency Learning Review’ was commissioned by the Safer Bristol Executive Board and was undertaken by independent author Mr David McCallum, who made 14 recommendations in his original January 2014 review.

A damning report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was published in July 2017 and this latest report has taken into account the findings.

SBP chair Alison Comley: “The murder of Bijan Ebrahimi shocked our city and as a partnership we are committed to learning the lessons from what went wrong.

“We thank Mr Ebrahimi’s family for their dignity and strength in working with us through an extremely difficult time and for their commitment in helping all agencies to improve how they work with victims.”

There are three specific recommendations in the report related to how concerns can be escalated across different agencies, how issues are referred to anti-social behaviour panels and the way in which cases come to the attention of the Bristol Hate Crime Case Review Panel.

In the wake of the report, Rees said: “We appreciate that no amount of lessons learned or changes in practice can possibly mitigate the impact this had on Bijan and his family.

“However, we assure the family and the public that every effort will continue to be made, building on the considerable work that has already been completed by the council as part of the Safer Bristol Partnership, to further identify how we need to change and improve.”

Avon and Somerset police have pledged that fairness, equality and diversity are fundamental priorities as the they work to continue putting recommendations into action.

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