Police misconduct in UK fatal vigilante attack on Bijan Ebrahimi

A British police officer and a community support officer have been convicted of misconduct in connection with the murder of a disabled man in a vigilante attack.

Bijan Ebrahimi, 44, was beaten to death and his body set on fire by neighbour Lee James — who wrongly believed he was a paedophile — in Bristol on July 14, 2013.

James, of Brislington, was later jailed for life for the murder. Stephen Norley, who lived next door, was jailed for four years for assisting an offender.

PCs Leanne Winter, 38, Kevin Duffy, 52, and Helen Harris, 40, and PCSO Andrew Passmore, 56, were accused of letting their dislike of Ebrahimi influence their decision making.

Ebrahimi, an Iranian national, was beaten unconscious and set alight shortly after 1am, days after James told police he would “do time to protect his children”.

On the Friday before, Ebrahimi had made 12 calls to police fearing for his safety and reporting a mob outside his flat.

Following a seven-week trial at Bristol Crown Court, Duffy was convicted of misconduct in a public office.

Harris and Winter were cleared of the charge.

Passmore was acquitted of misconduct in a public office by failing to carry out any or an adequate patrol around Ebrahimi’s home.

Bijan Ebrahimi's sister speaks outside court following today's verdict that found two officers guilty of misconduct https://t.co/6DMIuY2uvx

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 21, 2015

But he was convicted of misconduct in a public office by falsely claiming to have spent an hour patrolling the area during an interview with murder detectives.

The court previously heard on July 11, Ebrahimi dialled 999 and reported that James had come into his flat and head-butted him.

James believed Ebrahimi had filmed his children but he was actually recording anti-social behaviour to submit to Bristol City Council.

When Winter and Harris arrived, James was crying with anger and frothing at the mouth. They did not see any injuries on Ebrahimi.

A mob had formed outside and James was heard shouting: “Paedo! I’m going to fucking kill you.” Winter and Harris arrested Ebrahimi for alleged breach of the peace. As he was led away from his home, the crowd cheered, clapped, and shouted “paedophile”.

While in custody, Harris told Ebrahimi: “All you are doing is upsetting the residents... and antagonising them.

"I’m a police officer and you’re a pain in the ass. Don’t speak to me.”

Ebrahimi was released from custody the following day and made 12 calls to police non-emergency number 101.

He was informed that Duffy, his local beat manager, would visit him.

“My life is in danger. Right now a few of my neighbours are outside and shouting and calling me a paedophile. I need to see PC Duffy,” Ebrahimi told one operator.

Duffy refused to speak to him and said he would call Ebrahimi back at his own convenience.

The officer asked Passmore to conduct a “bit of a foot patrol” around Capgrave Crescent.

On July 13, Ebrahimi tried to contact Duffy and Winter. He phoned police at 12.12am on July 14 asking for Winter.

The officer told an operator: “I’m absolutely not interested in speaking to him ever.”

Witnesses saw James repeatedly stamp on Ebrahimi’s head with his right foot, telling him “have some of that”.

CCTV footage captured a blaze starting at 1.35am, which a paramedic extinguished 10 minutes later.

A postmortem found Ebrahimi, who had problems with his mobility and suffered from depression, died before he was set alight.