Police 'should learn lessons'

Inspectors said Leicestershire Police Authority should have made sure lessons were learned by Leicestershire Constabulary to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

Police were criticised last year for not coming to the aid of the mother -of-two and her disabled daughter, despite repeated pleas for help.

A senior officer told the inquest that dealing with anti-social behaviour was the responsibility of the council, not the force.

Ms Pilkington, 38, killed herself and her daughter, who had a mental age of four, by setting light to her Austin Maestro while they both sat inside near her home in Barwell.

Together with the single mother's severely dyslexic son Anthony, they suffered more than 10 years of abuse from a gang of teenagers.