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Two police officers jailed re: death of Bijan Ebrahimi (wrongly suspected paedophile)

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Two police officers have been jailed:

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.

Link.
 

Thaedolus

Member
Huh. Police officers being held accountable for acts of violence they were indirectly responsible for.

What the fuck is this?

What world am I in?

Oh, it's the UK. That makes sense.
 

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
Huh. Police officers being held accountable for acts of violence they were indirectly responsible for.

What the fuck is this?

What world am I in?

Oh, it's the UK. That makes sense.

10 and 4 months for someone being set on fire? Seems pretty light. Its better than paid vacation but not by much imo.
 
I don't know what's most sad: The lynching itself or the fact that I knew the instant I saw the thread title that it would be about the UK. Fuck the lynch mob mentality of that country.
 
i know. Still a slap on the wrist.

Their offense wasn't much more than slap on the wrist worthy. They've already lost their jobs.

Ten months in prison being a slap on the wrist is something only somebody who has never been there could say. These people have families, it's a pretty big fucking deal.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
Two police officers have been jailed:



Link.

Some context behind these charges:
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.

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.”

Reading about this entire case for the first time and it's infuriating. RIP to Mr. Ebrahimi :(
 

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
Their offense wasn't much more than slap on the wrist worthy. They've already lost their jobs.

Ten months in prison being a slap on the wrist is something only somebody who has never been there could say. These people have families, it's a pretty big fucking deal.

Their inaction led to his death, no?
 

spekkeh

Banned
^ reading that another judge might just as well have acquitted it, so this seems like a pretty heavy verdict. Good probably, considering. 'Luckily' it appears James didn't burn him alive but bludgeoned him to death and wanted to dispose of the body.
 
Their offense wasn't much more than slap on the wrist worthy. They've already lost their jobs.

Ten months in prison being a slap on the wrist is something only somebody who has never been there could say. These people have families, it's a pretty big fucking deal.

wat

why are you bragging about your country's shitty handling of this
 
An innocent man is dead because of complete ignorance and people who want a reason to let their violent tendencies loose.

The mugshots of the two set off that douchebags alert. Fucking morons.

Also, police arrested the guy because somebody thought he was taking inappropriate pictures? No smidgen of proof or anything?
You don't need proof to arrest. Only reasonable suspicion.

Needless to say this is absolutely disgusting and I hope the murderer gets a very long sentence.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Their offense wasn't much more than slap on the wrist worthy. They've already lost their jobs.

Ten months in prison being a slap on the wrist is something only somebody who has never been there could say. These people have families, it's a pretty big fucking deal.

..the guy died because they refused to help him ?
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Honestly it sounds like they should have gotten worse, at least the guy who ignoring the dudes calls right before he was about to be beaten and burned to death. Your a cop, that's some cold hearted shit
 
I'm shocked by this but really happy they've been sent down for massive failings in their job. Glad the legal system does work sometimes in the public's favour.
 

gamma

Member
Here's what the judge said regarding the sentences:

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.”
 
Wider failings, cop in question specifically ignores the guys pleas for help and says he'll talk to him when he feels like it.

I'm not a fan of the police, but it seems like all the failings are on that one guy for allowing his past interactions with the victim to cloud his judgement as a servant of the public and not respond to his plea of help.
 
Or, you know, this one person.

The article linked to in the OP of the thread this new thread was lifted from, strongly implied that the murderer was part of a lynch mob and that he was singled out for the act of the burning itself. Regardless, this falls in line with a long tradition of vigilante justice and lynching in the UK, particularly when it comes to suspected pedophiles.
 

old

Member
All I know is that in America the police have no obligation or responsibility to protect anybody, so I'm not sure such a thing like this could even happen here.
 
The article linked to in the OP of the thread this new thread was lifted from, strongly implied that the murderer was part of a lynch mob and that he was singled out for the act of the burning itself. Regardless, this falls in line with a long tradition of vigilante justice and lynching in the UK, particularly when it comes to suspected pedophiles.

Would you like to demonstrate?
 

spekkeh

Banned
Wider failings, cop in question specifically ignores the guys pleas for help and says he'll talk to him when he feels like it.

I'm not a fan of the police, but it seems like all the failings are on that one guy for allowing his past interactions with the victim to cloud his judgement as a servant of the public and not respond to his plea of help.

The police needs to continuously make this assessment though, they can't react to every call for help, and 999(911/112) operators are generally swamped with paranoid or chronically complaining people. Only a small percentage of the reports are acted upon. If this person was known as a querulant to the police, or even kind of a shifty geezer, it's not implausible they would check up on him only the next day.
 
Would you like to demonstrate?

Demonstrate? As in provide links to articles, studies or something? Heck, I believe it's been more than a decade since the string of events that formed the impression I mentioned above. I have no idea where that stuff is today, and I don't really feel like googling around for it while at work. I don't really feel a desire to try and convince you anyway. If you don't agree with me, that's fine. I might be horribly wrong, but you've got to admit that it's peculiar when people think "oh, it must be the UK again" when it comes to stuff like this. I wasn't the only one either.
 

dan2026

Member
In America the cops would 'accidently' kill the suspected paedophile themselves, then get paid vacation.
Not to say the UK isn't shit, it is for other reasons.
But our cops don't regularly kill people.
 
Take note America: This is what accountability looks like.

While it's certainly better than what they would have likely gotten in America (paid vacation time), 14 combined months in jail for dereliction that lead directly to the horrible death of this man is hardly morally praiseworthy.

They let a man be beaten to death and set on fucking fire. Let's not brag that they got full and proper justice. They were complicit in his death and if America was working right they would have gotten the same or similar sentence as the murderers themselves here on our side of the pond.

15-20 years each would have gotten me to agree that we saw accountability here. Yes, I hold law enforcement to the highest possible standard and breach of that trust should carry just as significant and serious ramifications as the crimes committed under their watch do for their perpetrators.
 
regardless, congrats on setting the shitty tone of the thread!

Pretty odd thing to say considering a) it was a post in another thread that got broken off by a mod, and b) you came in here swinging.

You can argue that the punishment should be more severe, but jumping down my throat for suggesting that this is a reasonable outcome doesn't advance your point.

Edit: see above for what reasonable discourse looks like, and maybe look a little inward when throwing around accusations of tone setting.
 

spekkeh

Banned
While it's certainly better than what they would have likely gotten in America (paid vacation time), 14 combined months in jail for dereliction that lead directly to the horrible death of this man is hardly morally praiseworthy.
I'd say beating the person to death led directly to the horrible death of this man. Note that even if they went up to his house, they may not have prevented this thing from happening, safe for posting in front of his door all night or preemptively apprehending the neighbours.
They made a bad judgment call with terrible consequences. They are evidently deeply sorry, lost their jobs and now get a combined 14 months of jail sentence for *failing to act*. I don't really see how anyone intimate in law would expect much higher sentencing.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
It's a shame those two officers didn't have a union to protect them :(
 

Tesseract

Banned
this is why i don't like the so-called court of public opinion, it's too egocentric. prudence is the persistent, appropriate price to pay for justice.
 
I'd say beating the person to death led directly to the horrible death of this man. Note that even if they went up to his house, they may not have prevented this thing from happening, safe for posting in front of his door all night or preemptively apprehending the neighbours.
They made a bad judgment call with terrible consequences. They are evidently deeply sorry, lost their jobs and now get a combined 14 months of jail sentence for *failing to act*. I don't really see how anyone intimate in law would expect much higher sentencing.

Id agree with this.
I also hold the judges opinions in a far higher regard, as he's some who been made aware of all the facts and made an informed decision based on his knowledge of the law.
As opposed to Mr Gaf Everyman who's "read" a few hundred word story and decided to become outraged at the moral injustice.
 

rjinaz

Member
Their offense wasn't much more than slap on the wrist worthy. They've already lost their jobs.

Ten months in prison being a slap on the wrist is something only somebody who has never been there could say. These people have families, it's a pretty big fucking deal.

Truth. I only spent two days in a prison and fuck no. Still have nightmares and it was years ago.
 
I'd say beating the person to death led directly to the horrible death of this man.

In America, those who were complicit can be sentenced as accomplices to said crime and often get similar sentences as those who did the crimes. The getaway driver shouldn't necessarily get a lighter sentence than the guy who robbed the bank and shot a teller in the process. How much more so an officer of the law who has taken a sworn oath to protect, who are entrusted with the power to be used to stop things like this from happening?
 
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