Two officers sacked for wrongful arrest and `disrespectful` treatment of murder victim

A police force has ‘changed its ways’ in the aftermath of a tragedy which ended with two officers being dismissed for their part in failing to protect a disabled refugee who was murdered by an ill-informed vigilante.

Police constables Leanne Winter and Helen Harris were found to have shown no respect or courtesy to Bijan Ebrahimi — who had complained he was being threatened by a man who would go on to kill him three days later.

They became involved in turning a small dispute into a “neighbourhood-wide paedophile” witch-hunt.

Mr Ebrahimi, 44, was murdered in July 2013 after his neighbour Lee James wrongly believed the Iranian was filming his children for sexual purposes.

The dismissals were the final piece in a disciplinary procedure following a lengthy investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which identified ten officers and nine police staff from Avon and Somerset Constabulary had a case to answer for misconduct.

Of these 19 officers and staff, four of them — PCs Kevin Duffy, Harris, Winter and police community support officer Andrew Passmore — were put on trial, charged with misconduct in public office.

PC Duffy and PCSO Passmore were each found guilty at the end of 2015 and given custodial sentences of ten months and four months respectively while PCs Harris and Winter were acquitted.

The misconduct hearing in Bristol on Tuesday (May 3) was told that despite Mr Ebrahimi calling the police for help and having video evidence that James had stormed into his home and threatened him — the officers decided instead to arrest Mr Ebrahimi in front of a jeering crowd.

He was released without charge the following morning and within 36 hours James had punched and kicked Mr Ebrahimi unconscious before his body was set alight on grassland near his home. James was jailed for life in November 2013.

Panel chairman Emma Nott, who ruled both officers` actions had “amounted to gross misconduct” and both women be sacked without notice, said the officers` failure to arrest James was “inexplicable”.

She said: “The officers had grounds to arrest Mr James, but they considered Mr Ebrahimi to be a liar and that was the end of the investigation.”

She added that the panel believed James had threatened Mr Ebrahimi for a second time, in front of the officers` but they still took no action.

Ms Nott said: “Even with the hostility of the crowd, Mr James should have been arrested. That would have given the onlookers the clearest message that the rumours were unfounded and that threats to Mr Ebrahimi would not be tolerated.

“There was no lawful or rational basis for this (Mr Ebrahimi`s) arrest.

“PC Harris told Mr James she would arrest Mr Ebrahimi but did not explain why.

“Mr James could only have inferred that Mr Ebrahimi was arrested for taking photographs of children.

“It morphed into a neighbourhood-wide paedophile hunt.”

Ms Nott said that handcuffing Mr Ebrahimi and leading him through a crowd of neighbours handcuffed had been degrading and misguided.

The panel heard that PC Harris had even told James she “would have done the same”, which Ms Nott said had validated James` behaviour.

Ms Nott said “station rumours” about Mr Ebrahimi being a time waster and a nuisance — and not race — had led to the officers` discriminatory view about him and the decision to arrest the wrong man.

The panel then heard while at the station, PC Harris had treated Mr Ebrahimi “unprofessionally, rudely and unkindly” over the course of an hour.

She told him to shut up, that he was boring her and that she had “had enough” and even hit him on the hand with a notepad “not to hurt, but to humiliate”.

After Mr Ebrahimi had been released, he made several unanswered calls for help to police over the following days before the brutal murder.

In one conversation just before his murder, PC Winter told a call handler she could not speak to Mr Ebrahimi because she was on patrol.

She had said she was not interested in speaking to him ever and called him a pest and an absolute