Bijan Ebrahimi, 44-year-old, has been labeled a pedophile and has been receiving death threats alongside racial abuse from his neighbors for the last seven years.
Ebrahimi, a disabled Iranian, had called authorities to help him but his cries for help were not taken seriously. It had taken his death for people to act upon it, understanding that he was being serious about the threats.
Two police officers are jailed for failing to provide him assistance, and another two were kicked off of the police force.
The story of Bijan Ebrahimi touches upon his death, finding his body in ashes after reports of others smelling the rotten burning.
The paramedics showed up to his house after he had been burned, using a fire extinguisher to take out the fire.
Hen Staveley-Brown, PC, comments on the murder that happened. She says that she had run to his flat, feeling horrible because “you just knew that this was somebody’s life. I didn’t know if he’d been burnt alive, and it’s haunted me ever since.
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Ebrahimi has been followed by accusations that he was a pedophile after residents at his former home had organized a petition to have him moved away.
It was said that he called the cops 78 times for help, yet residents claim that there was nothing to do with racism. Tam McSevney, an individual who lived across Ebrahimi, says that he would “complain about anything.”
They say that he complained about music, kids playing football, making noise, damaging his garden, etc. The false accusation of him being a pedophile had spread throughout the community, and instances have framed him to play a part in the title.
For example, Lee James, a neighbor of the man, was playing with his young daughters and had been recorded. They accused the man of filming with the intentions of recording his children. Lee James came over to confront him, threatening him to “f**k him up.”
Lee James beat up Bijan, taking his body to the street while asking for help from another neighbor, Stephen Norley, to set him aflame.
There has been a case review that has been issued, seeing that there was evidence of institutional racism due to the way the police responded to his calls. Offers Helen Harries and Leanne Winters were taken out of the force while Kevin Duffy and Andrew Passmore had been jailed for police misconduct in a public office.
Kevin Duffy, a defiant, thinks he was treated unfairly and that his death was unjust. The police officers saw him as a problem instead of supporting the victim who has received many reports of race discrimination.