Negligent British cops finally dismissed

A police officer and a community support officer have been sacked over their failure to stop the murder of a disabled man who was beaten to death and set alight by a neighbour.

PC Kevin Duffy, 52, and PCSO Andrew Passmore, 56, were found guilty of misconduct in a public office in connection with the death of Bijan Ebrahimi in Bristol three years ago.

Mr Ebrahimi, 44, was punched and kicked to death and his body set on fire by Lee James, who wrongly believed he was a paedophile.

And Avon and Somerset Police announced this afternoon that both PC Duffy and PCSO Passmore have been dismissed from the force following misconduct hearings.

PC Duffy and PCSO Passmore are two of 18 officers and staff facing misconduct proceedings within the force. Of those, nine are accused of gross misconduct.

Mr Ebrahimi's sister, Manizhah Moores, previously called on Avon and Somerset Police to remove PC Duffy and PCSO Passmore from the force.

Judge Neil Ford QC, the Recorder of Bristol, has said that all options are open when he sentences the men on a date to be fixed.

A police spokesman said: ‘It was alleged that PC Duffy breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to his dealings with Bijan Ebrahimi between July 10 and 15, 2013.

‘PC Duffy knew that, or ought to have known that, Mr Ebrahimi was at risk of harm. He failed to visit or otherwise make contact with Mr Ebrahimi and refused to speak to him on the telephone.

‘As a result, PC Duffy was convicted of misconduct in a public office on December 21, which has brought discredit to the constabulary. The allegations were upheld by the misconduct panel and, as a result, PC Duffy was found guilty of gross misconduct.

‘The ruling of the panel was that PC Duffy be dismissed from Avon and Somerset police without notice. At a separate hearing earlier this week, PCSO Andrew Passmore was also dismissed in relation to this matter.’

Mr Ebrahimi was informed that PC Duffy, his local beat manager, would visit but the officer refused to speak to him.

‘My life is in danger. Right now a few of my neighbours are outside and shouting and calling me a paedophile. I need to see PC Duffy,’ Mr Ebrahimi told one operator.

PC Duffy told a supervisor: ‘He should be told in no uncertain terms that I will speak to him at my convenience, it's Mr Bijan Ebrahimi, he's well known to me and I won't be taking any calls from him.’

He asked PCSO Passmore to conduct a ‘bit of a foot patrol’ around his home road.

PCSO Passmore was found not guilty of failing to patrol there but was convicted of later falsely telling murder detectives he had spent an hour in the area.

On July 13, Mr Ebrahimi tried to contact Duffy and Winter. He phoned police at 00.12am on July 14 - about an hour before his murder - asking for Winter.

The officer told a call operator: ‘I'm absolutely not interested in speaking to him ever.’

Witnesses saw James repeatedly stamp on Mr Ebrahimi's head before setting him alight at 1.35am.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Ebrahimi, who had problems with mobility and suffered from depression, died before he was set alight.

James was jailed for life for the murder, while Stephen Norley, who lived next door, was sentenced to four years in prison for assisting an offender.

Tony Murphy, of Bhatt Murphy, the solicitor of Mr Ebrahimi's family, said: 'The family hopes that this outcome means that the police will protect victims of race hate crime in future, so that others do not lose their lives.

Original report here


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