‘Fiona Pilkington’ officers cleared of misconduct

Four Leicestershire Constabulary police officers have been cleared of misconduct in relation to the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter in 2007 after the family experienced repeated harassment from youths following an internal hearing, despite the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) saying officers had missed opportunities to take “robust action”.

The force said its hearings found misconduct was not proven.

Ms Pilkington, 38, and her severely disabled daughter, Francecca Hardwick, 18, were found dead in the family’s burnt-out car in a lay-by in October 2007. This was despite Ms Pilkington contacting the police on 33 separate occasions. In a suicide note to her family, among other concerns Ms Pilkington said she was disillusioned with the police response to the family’s ordeal.

An IPCC investigation, earlier this year, found the family should have been identified as “vulnerable” and that officers “missed several opportunities to take robust action”.

Following the conclusion of the force hearings, Deputy Chief Constable Dave Evans said the misconduct meetings found that failings were of an organisational nature.

He added that since the deaths, the force has now completely transformed the way it deals with anti-social behaviour, linking incidents and identifying vulnerability.

“The organisation as it was seven years ago is completely different compared to today. Significant resources have been put into both neighbourhood policing and safeguarding and tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority. The conclusion from the misconduct meetings were that failings were of an organisational nature due to the systems and processes in place at the time not enabling officers to provide the most effective service.

“We hope the significant changes that we have made, and continue to make, give the family some comfort and as always our thoughts are with them,” said Mr Evans.

Last week, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a report – Hidden in plain sight – which concluded that hundreds of thousands of disabled people regularly experience harassment or abuse but a culture of disbelief is preventing public authorities, including the police, from tackling it effectively.

The commission identified serious and systemic failings in the way that public authorities have dealt with disability harassment. Ten cases of severe abuse, nine of which resulted in the death of the victim, had been highlighted.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) acknowledged that although the service has taken steps to address a number of issues relating to disability hate crime, more work needs to be done.