In the Dock: CPS will prosecute those who target disabled people
30/05/2012
Justice should be open to everybody and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) will prosecute those who target disabled people with the full force of the law.
When Kirsty Stevenson and Layla Ridgement attacked their victim they may have thought they would get away with it, but on 29 May they were both sentenced to five years imprisonment at Truro Crown Court, having both pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment at an earlier hearing. Disability hate crimes attract longer sentences than other offences.
The pair had befriended a 17-year-old with autism and lured her to Ridgements home in St Austell where they locked her in, smashed a bottle over her head, punched her in the face and knocked her onto the floor. They then ordered her to strip to her underwear and took her top, jumper, jogging bottoms, shoes and mobile phone before she was finally allowed to leave. Nearly naked, bloodied and distressed she was left to make her own way home in the November cold and rain.
The CPS in the South West handled 47 disability hate crimes last year (1 April 2011 31 Mach 2012))and successfully prosecuted 83% of these. Sadly, the cases we prosecute probably only represent a small proportion of the disability-related offences that actually occur.
Sometimes hate crimes go unreported because they are not always recognised for what they are by the public, by law enforcement agencies or even by the victims themselves. Many disabled people do not realise that constant name calling, mimicking and bullying are criminal offences and can often escalate to more serious forms of harassment and violence. Even when they would like to, people who have been targeted may be reluctant to report such crimes or come to court to give evidence because they feel too intimidated to do so.
We are beginning to gain a clearer understanding of the different ways learning disabled people may be targeted, abused and exploited by those who pretend to befriend them. Some learning disability groups campaigning to raise public awareness of this disturbing pattern of crime refer to such offences as 'mate crime'. The most horrific example of this in Cornwall was committed by Sarah Bullock, Darren Stewart and Martin Pollard who were jailed in 2007 for their part in the killing of Steven Hoskin, a 38-year-old man with severe learning disabilities.
The gang befriended Hoskin then abused, exploited and humiliated him for over a year, taking his money, treating him as their slave and even making him wear his own dog's collar and lead. Eventually, having forced him to swallow 70 painkillers, they took him to the top of a railway viaduct in St.Austell and made him hang from the railings as Bullock, then aged 16, stamped on his hands until he fell 30 metres to his death.
The right to live free from fear and harassment is a fundamental right for all of us. As a society, we should never allow members of our community to be criminally targeted just because they are disabled. Together with our partners, the CPS is working hard to ensure those who commit these crimes are brought to justice.
For further information on how to protect people from mate crime please go to:
