Crime

April 26, 2018 0

Four jailed over furniture scam that targeted disabled and older people

Four people have been jailed for their part in a criminal operation set up by a furniture company to target disabled and older people, many of whom were pressured for hours into buying substandard chairs and beds they did not want and did not need. Life Comfort Products Ltd in Peterborough employed “very aggressive

Crime

February 8, 2018 0

Disabled people need ‘equal and fair’ hate crime laws, MPs are told

Listen

Disabled people will only be protected from online abuse when they have “equal and fair” hate crime laws, a leading disabled campaigner has told MPs. Anne Novis, chair of Inclusion London, told the Commons petitions committee that the abuse targeted at disabled people online was “just an echo” of what they experienced on the

Crime

Anne Novis on stage beside commander Mak Chishty of the Met police

January 25, 2018 0

MPs launch inquiry into online abuse of disabled people, following Katie Price petition

Listen

Disability hate crime campaigners are to give evidence to MPs next month as part of a new inquiry into the online abuse of disabled people. The Commons petitions committee has launched the investigation following a petition set up by former model Katie Price which was signed by more than 220,000 people. Price’s petition called

Crime

Bijan Ebrahimi sitting in a police station and talking to a female police officer

December 21, 2017 0

Murdered disabled refugee ‘was repeatedly failed by council and police’

Listen

A disabled refugee who was murdered after years of racist harassment and abuse was repeatedly failed by a police force and his local authority, according to a long-awaited review into the events that led to his death. The review by the Safer Bristol Partnership found that both Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset

Crime

November 30, 2017 0

Major law reform would help close ‘huge justice gap’ on disability hate crime

Listen

Academics have called for a new hate crime act and other key legal reforms to address the “huge justice gap” that affects victims of disability hate crime, following a major two-year study. Researchers at the University of Sussex, led by Dr Mark Walters*, have concluded that the way the criminal justice system deals with

Crime

Lord Thomas speaking from an ornate pulpit

November 2, 2017 0

Head of judiciary said Brexit delays will rule out vital hate crime law change

Listen

The head of the judiciary has blamed the parliamentary logjam caused by Brexit for preventing the introduction of vital new laws that would make it easier for disability hate crime to be punished with stricter sentences. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, who retired last month, told the chief executive of the Crown Prosecution

Crime

October 19, 2017 0

Police and council face questions over second murder of disabled refugee

Listen

Public bodies in Bristol are facing allegations of institutional disablism and racism, after the second case in four years in which a man has been convicted of the brutal murder of a disabled refugee. Friends say that Kamil Ahmad had repeatedly told police officers that he was being threatened and racially abused by Jeffrey

Crime

Detail of a mural showing a man holding his head in his hands

October 19, 2017 0

Kamil Ahmad: Discrimination led to murder of disabled refugee, say friends

Listen

Friends of a disabled Kurdish asylum-seeker have spoken of the institutionalised discrimination that they believe led to his murder at the hands of a racist neighbour. Kamil Ahmad wanted nothing more than a safe place that he could call home, after seeking asylum in the UK. He came to England from Iraq in 2011,

Crime

Stephen Brookes speaking at a conference

October 19, 2017 0

Second year of huge rises in disability hate crime, but causes still unclear

Listen

The number of disability hate crimes recorded by the police rose by more than 50 per cent last year, according to new figures released by the Home Office. The rise in recorded disability hate crimes (53 per cent) was larger than for any other strand, with race hate crimes rising by more than a

Crime

An aerial view of a farm with outbuildings, fields and caravans

September 14, 2017 0

Modern slavery sentencing again exposes hate crime failings

Listen

The failure of the criminal justice system to recognise and punish disability hate crime has been highlighted yet again, after nine members of the same family were jailed for modern slavery and fraud offences spanning more than 25 years. Members of the Rooney family received sentences of up to 16 years after Nottingham Crown

Browsing: Crime