28/11/2013 BBC Points West

Louise, thank you. That's all from the BBC News at

Don't you dare take pictures of me. The moment a murderer confronted his

innocent victim. Tonight, we look at the tragic case of the man killed

for being different. Bijan Ebrahimi was murdered after being branded a

paedophile by a mob in south Bristol. He was completely innocent.

To date, his neighbours were sent to jail for telling him and then

setting him on fire. He was targeted for being disabled and foreign. We

were let down by the police and other agencies. We would like to

know why. I will be putting that question to Bristol's most senior

policeman, who said that Mr Ebrahimi was failed by the system.

In other news, the former coroner jailed for stealing almost ?2

million from his clients. And Sean O'Driscoll is sacked as Bristol

City's manager. Good evening. A disabled immigrant

was murdered on his own doorstep and set on fire in a vigilante crime

after he was wrongly branded a paedophile. Bijan Ebrahimi lived

alone and was seen as "different", his family said. Today, one of his

neighbours, Lee James, was jailed for life for murder and another

Stephen Norley, was given four years for helping. This afternoon, Mr

Ebrahimi's sister paid tribute to her brother.

We now know who was responsible for murdering and burning Bijan, a

wonderful son, brother and uncle has been lost in this world. The next

question to be answered is whether Bijan's death could have been

avoided if he had had the protection he deserved from the authorities.

Lessons must be learned before more of an honourable lives have been

lost. `` more vulnerable lives. Tonight, we'll be examining exactly

what happened to Bijan Ebrahimi and asking, "What went wrong?" But first

our home affairs correspondent, Steve Brodie, looks back at the hot

weekend this summer that ended in a mob baying for blood and a vigilante

murder. In the early hours of a Sunday

morning in July, Bijan Ebrahimi was kicked and stamped to death. At the

edge of these security camera pictures, his killer, Lee James and

another man, Stephen Norley, can be seen dragging the body into the

open. Moments later, it's set on fire. Both men were neighbours of

Bijan Ebrahimi, who had lived on the estate since 2007. Andrew Langdon QC

said he felt under siege from hostile neighbours. And on the

Thursday before his death, he had filmed James drinking in front of

his children, which infuriated the 24`year`old father, who accused

Bijan Ebrahimi of being a peadophile and then confronted him in his flat.

Don't you dare take pictures of me, all right? Don't take because of me!

Get the old Bill and I will tell them you took pictures of me. I have

a little boy. Go out of my house. Out of my house! Tape it is me again

and I'll...! `` take pictures of me again. As the situation deteriated,

more rumours circulated and a crowd gathered outside his flat. Bijan

Ebrahimi called the police ` they arrested him for his own safety

James was heard to say he was going to take the law into his own hands

and burn the house down. On the Friday, Bijan was released without

charge. The police offered to take him to his sisters'. He wanted to

return home to his flat but, as he looked out of his window, tensions

remained high and he contacted the police again and again. His calls

were not returned. We spoke to one neighbour who wanted to remain

annoymous. The police let him down by not

realising the situation they were releasing him back into. It was

hostile. It was wrought and rabid. Two days later, in the early hours

of the morning, Mr Ebrahimi was beaten to death. His body was

dragged here, 100 yards from his flat behind me, and then set on

fire. I saw the ambulance putting out a fire. I wondered why they were

telling me to get back inside and then I saw the dead body. Charges

and guilty pleas followed. But it isn't over for Bijan Ebrahimi's

family. Avon and Somerset Police referred the case to the Independent

Police Complaints Commission, who are investigating six officers about

their role. The family want to know what hapened and why. The force may

also end up in court. Today, Stephen Norely was jailed for four years for

assisting an offender. He had supplied the white spirit used to

burn the body. Jailing Lee James for life with a minimum tariff of 1

years, the Judge, Mr Justice Simon, told him, "This was an act of

murderous injustice. The destruction of the body was gratuitously

abusive." He then turned to the family, who were sitting in the

front row. He offered his condolences, saying, "For you, this

will never be over." Bijan Ebrahimi, was described by his

family as a loving brother, son and uncle. Known to friends as Ben, he

was a man who loved cats and gardening. Today, his family in

Tehran spoke out in anger at the authorities here in Bristol.

TRANSLATION: Our hatred for the police is more than that for the

murderers. We request the British and Iranian officials and the police

to investigate that further. Back in the UK, Bijan Ebrahimi's sister said

his murder had left a hole that could never be filled. Jon Kay has

been to speak with her. He was such a clever guy. He was

very funny. He was kind, he was a good uncle. He was hard`working He

made our lives so fun. We cared about him so much.

And he was very proud of his garden and the outside of his home? He was

really proud of it and every birthday and Christmas, he would ask

for plants and flowers will stop if you asked what he wanted, he would

ask for plants and flowers. How did he end up living in Bristol? He came

to England as a refugee. He wanted to find a better life here because

he was not happy. He came in around 2001. There was no doubt that he was

going to come to a safe place. I don't think he ever thought about

something happening to him here As everyone thinks, coming over here,

they will have safety but, unfortunately, it was not the case

for Bijan. Losing someone is difficult to come to terms with

Losing someone in such a way, it is unimaginable for us to come to terms

with that. He wasn't just a brother to us, he was like a son to us, he

was the uncle to our children. He was our friend. Not seeing him in

our lives... We really miss him We go to his grave as many times as we

can, to cry and to feel he is there. You feel failed as a family? We are

failed by the system, yes. We feel so strongly about it, we are so

disappointed. We felt so let down by the police and the other agencies.

We would like to know why. So what about the community where

this happened? Capgrave Crescent is a self`contained estate in

Brislington, South Bristol. Bijan Ebrahimi moved there in 2007 and

lived alone up until his death, It's no different from thousands of other

estates across Britain, so why did this happen there? Scott Ellis is

there for us now. I have been speaking to some of the

residents here this evening. An 11`year`old girl told me she could

remember the blood on the grass behind me. She is still so afraid

that she sleeps with her mother at night. Another man said that he is

still in a state of disbelief and shock about what has happened. When

I asked him to say`so on Capper `` say`so on camera, he refused. He was

worried about what would happen They must surely be hearing a sense

of shame and guilt this evening I have been looking back into the life

of Bijan Ebrahimi. You cannot believe it. You don't think of it

happening on your doorstep. He was just a normal, quiet chap. There is

more to it than just two people taking the law into their own is ``

their own hands, there are places where people are treated with

suspicion. Residents say little about what

happened here. The authrorities are equally guarded. Their roles in

protecting Bijan Ebrahimi are being scrutinised. He'd sought help from

Bristol's anti`racism agency, SARI, who say he'd make more than 50 calls

to the police in the five years before he was killed. the victims

are bound to be a nuisance. When you have someone like Bijan, who is

subject to racism and harassment, and to get on reporting it to the

police, sometimes it comes up, he is again. " `` here he is again

SARI's records show Mr Ebrahimi suffered attacks in 2005, when he

lived in a shared house overlooking Victoria Park in the south of

Bristol. They say that he was attacked on several occasions by the

same two men. Not the ones who are sentenced today. On another

occasion, he was beaten with a fire extinction. SARI says Bijan had

further problems living in the Knowle area and had a flat set on

fire. Bijan's family say he was victimised on grounds of race and

disability. This disability rights campaigner has studied the links

between being disabled, being falsely accused of sexual crimes and

then murder. We had several other cases not that far from Bristol in

fact. There were three in a radius of 150 miles where men had been

wrongly labelled in that way and then subjected to overwhelming

violence and murder is. You would have thought that the police would

have been dimly aware of those cases. The Equality Commission

issued guidance to councils and the police in 2011, warning they

recognise the high level of risk faced by disabled people who have

been labelled as paedophiles. SARI says, victimised and depressed,

Bijan wanted to move out of this two`bedroom flat. But he was only

offered a one`bedroom replacment, so stayed put.

The city council and the police will report their findings next year

That will add to what we have already heard from the agency,

That will add to what we have And they will make sure this never

happens again. Well, I'm joined now by the Chief

Constable of Avon and Somerset Police, Nick Gargan. Thank you for

coming in. Presumably you now except that he was let down by the force. I

accept that Mr Ebrahimi was let down by the collective community, the

agencies that serve them. I have to be careful about what I say. On the

14th of July this year, I referred the case to the independent police

complaint commission because I was alarmed at what I saw. Once you

refer a case to the IPCC, there are research is and what you can say.

That is for two reasons. You should not try to influence them whining

spy saying what you think publicly. There is a possibility this case

could end up in court. If they are going to hear big details of this

case, they should in the verdict based on the facts. Looking at what

has happened in your force, if you're officers had behaved

differently, would he be alive today? No one is more frustrated

than I am about the fact that I am rejected in what I can say. Clearly,

there is a man who has died and that is a failure and we should learn the

lessons and reduce the risk of this happening again. For the reasons I

have given, I cannot criticise the force because of the IPCC

investigation. I think he was picked out and picked on because he was

different. He came from another country, he looked different, he had

a disability, his hobbies were different and Easter that on the

estate and he behaved differently from other people. That is not to

say that any of those things are next use for what happened. It was

disgraceful. He made more than 0 complaints to the police. Did your

staff come to think of him as being a bit of a pain? We are now moving

back into the territory that is being investigated by the IPCC. They

will produce a report in two parts, the first will be about the

incidents surrounding the week of his death and there will be the

longer term triggered off him. I cannot offer a view. Say there was a

mob outside a house and someone was arrested for their own protection,

would it be wise to deliver them back to that house? We will deliver

them back to where they ask us to deliver them. Let us move more than

the specific case as the IPCC complete their investigation and let

us look at the generality of how we respond to cases of anti`social

behaviour, how we respond to vulnerable victims and how we

respond to people who come repeatedly to us to ask for our

help. Ever since July, we have been working through our procedures to

ensure that the chances of any mistakes in the future are juiced

and the service we provide to everybody is at the same level as

the service we provide you at our best. Thank you.

What happened to Bijan Ebrahimi shocked not only the local community

but made headlines across the UK. Not for the first time, Bristol

found itself at the centre of questions about how something like

this could happen. So what, if anything, does this tell us about

our city and how tolerant it is Here's Laura Jones.

The streets of Southmead, Bristol, in 2009 and two undercover reporters

for the BBC's Panorama programme are spat at, punched and verbally

abused. The programme had set out to ask how racist this city is. I have

not faced as much racism in my entire life as I have here in

Bristol. The conclusion was shameful and led to much soul`searching. Four

years on, many hoped that things had changed. But, this summer, Mr

Ebrahimi's murder put Bristol back in the national headlines for all

the wrong reasons. So what, if anything, do the tragic events

surrounding this case tell us about this city and our perceptions of it?

Bijan Ebrahimi's brutal murder was, thankfully, highly unusual. But his

treatment in the years leading up to his death, and the horrific

circumstances surrounding it, are clearly shameful and beg the

question whether this city so many of us call home really is as

inclusive and as welcoming as we'd like to think. It's certainly a

diverse city and somewhere that prides itself on being a bit

alternative. From the bustling streets of Stokes Croft and Easton

to the genteel terraces of Clifton. A city where more than 90 languages

are spoken by people of all different faiths, creeds and

colours. A city where something like this ought to have been unthinkable.

Of course there is some ignorance and there is some racism and that is

unacceptable but it is at a lower level than in other cities. I know

that. No racist candidate has been successful in Bristol and I hope

they never will be. So I absolutely believe that Bristol will repair

itself. The statistics certainly don't show anything unusual. Like

elsewhere across the country, violent crime is dropping. In 2 02,

nine people were murdered in Bristol. Ten years on, that figure

has dropped to three. That's about the same as in other cities of a

similar size. So if there are lessons to be learned about

ourselves and our city as a result of this horrible crime, what are

they? Just down the road from where Mr Ebrahimi died, students at the

local sixth form college are studying the case as part of their

lessons in tolerance and diversity. I think that work in schools around

diversity and mixing with different communities. The more community

involvement there is, the less likely we are to get caught up in

those situations. There are still many questions about what happened

here this summer. It's hoped that some of those will be answered when

the findings of the independent reports, both into the police and

the council's interactions with Mr Ebrahimi, are published early next

year. Well, earlier I spoke to Stephen

Williams, a Bristol MP who also has ministerial responsibility for

integration and race equality. I began by asking him if this was an

isolated case or whether there was a deeper issue.

I don't think there is some ink fundamentally wrong about Bristol at

all. The data I see is that Bristol is relatively harmonious compare to

other cities. There is no particular cause for concern, that community

tensions are about to erupt. Hopefully this was an isolated on

the unique incident where one man tragically lost his life because of

the stupid and criminal behaviour of a couple of his neighbours. Bristol

certainly does not look like a harmonious place compare to the rest

of the country. We have the panorama documentary, we have this. What can

we do to address this problem is you mock who's responsible it `` walk we

do to address the problem? Who's responsible at E is it? We need to

make sure we bring people together. A challenge that I made recently at

a Diwali event in Bristol is to be more open about your own community,

let people share in your beliefs and your practices, to break down these

barriers. Don't these events reach people who are already open minded

not this is only those who need to integrate with other communities

question at? We need to make the whole thing mainstream, and use

every platform possible. Sport and music projects bring people

together. With that reach a immunity like this where this tragedy has

happened? `` community like this. Bristol is not deemed to be as bad

as some other part of the country, so we are obviously in a base of

local amenity tensions. This was a case where an entirely innocent man

had his life ended by someone who thought he could take the law into

his own hands. That must be the clear message. No one should take

the law into their own hands. The rule of law is what separates us

from not being a civilised society. Thank you.

You are watching BBC Points West. In other news, the former

Gloucestershire coroner, Alan Crickmore, has been jailed for eight

years today for stealing almost ?2 million from clients at his

solicitor's practice. In many cases, the money was taken from the dead.

Our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve Knibbs, was in court.

From his chaotic solicitors office in Cheltenham, Alan Crickmore bled

clients dry. He fiddled the books by seriously inflating his costs and

borrowing from victims' estates He was preying on Boro will people who

put their complete trust in him `` vulnerable people. When he went on

holiday, he would bring them back gifts from the holiday. Little did

they know that they had paid for his holiday with money he had stolen

from them. Over the years, people have put their absolute trust in him

and they were appalled when we went to them and said he had been

stealing from them. Many didn't believe us. It any became apparent

to them when none of `` when some of them had no money left. Former

prisoner of war Josef Dziuma left only a modest estate. Alan Crickmore

didn't pay all the beneficiaries of the will, leaving ?25,000 in the

account. What happened to the money? Alan Crickmore stole it. It would

only cost in a view thousands pounds to wind it up but he took almost

half the value of the estate, leaving only ?25,000. Others lost

much more. Clare Wilson had dementia and gave Alan Crickmore complete

control of her finances to pay for her care. He stole ?399,000 when she

was alive and ?159,000 after she died. Ken Goodwin died in 1997.

?894,000 was stolen from the estate. In total, he took nearly ?2 million

from his clients. He has had a great big impact on us financially. There

are no bones about that. Very disturbing. Especially for my

mother, Arie upsetting for her. Also myself. It is horrendous, everything

that has taken place over the last 2.5 years. Crickmore used the money

to fund a luxury lifestyle ` expensive holidays, fine wine and

food. On a ?5,500 QE2 cruise, he spent ?4,800 on board. That was all

fans to his clients. 's that was all thanks to his client. Alan Crickmore

spent the last few weeks wearing an electronic tag and tonight is in a

prison cell. He wishes to sincerely apologise to his clients and the

families of his clients who have been affected by this case. He is

ashamed of his conduct and bitterly regret his actions. This is a

spectacular fall from grace. As a coroner, he cared what happened to

the dead but as a solicitor, he was happy to religious states to live a

life he could never afford. `` happy to pillage estates.

Bristol City have this morning parted company with head coach Sean

O'Driscoll. His 11 months at the club has seen the team move from the

bottom of the Championship to the League One relegation zone. Damian

Derrick reports. Sean O'Driscoll arrived at Ashton

Gate in January, hoping to reverse the team's fortunes. But just five

wins in 20 matches saw them drop into League One. With one of the

biggest budgets in the division City were tipped for promotion. But

they're at the wrong end of the table and it's O'Driscoll who's

being held responsible. The head coach is in charge of the first 11

and getting the best result. The table does not lie, we are the third

worst team in the league. Following relegation, there was an overhaul of

the playing squad with a focus on developing young talent. O'Driscoll

asked for patience from the fans but the League wins just wouldn't come

and the pressure took its toll. That's a stupid question. Do not ask

me stupid questions. In your career... Now the board has lost its

patience and Bristol City are looking for their sixth manager in

less than four years. I am available. Let us go to the

weather with Ian, who is on the roof.

weather with Ian, who is on the Indeed I am and we will see a change

as we head into tomorrow. This photograph will be more

representative of the skies across the West Country tomorrow. You can

take from that that it will be a brighter story per square mile. It

will be a breezy day but there will be a lot of dry weather barring one

or two showers. We should not have much consequence. This cold front

will come in tomorrow, becoming weaker as it comes across is. There

will be plenty of cloud around. You will notice that is a signal for a

breezy story from the north`west. As we head to the rest of the night,

you will see that temperatures dropping to similar values for all

of us, around six Celsius was not that will be typical. Frost and fog

free by tomorrow morning. We will seize on brighter weather about

tomorrow. By the first hours of daylight. As you get towards midday,

with the breeze, you will see one or two showers around. They will be in

consequence in an otherwise dry story. It will brighten up again

towards the afternoon. You will see from the wind speed there that it

will be a breezy picture compare to the last few days. Gusts of around

25 or 30 mph. A bit of wind chill, particularly in the afternoon.

Nonetheless, eight or nine, so it should not be too bad. It should be

a decent day on Saturday with some sunshine but we're back to square

one with a cloudy picture at the start of next week.

Thank you. It does feel a little bit milder. That is it from us for now.

Join me for lunch tomorrow. Otherwise we will see you at the

same time tomorrow. Goodbye.