Death-probe police will keep jobs

Four police officers due to be quizzed over the death of a woman who killed herself and her disabled daughter after years of harassment by a gang will not lose their jobs, a senior officer has said.

An inspector, a sergeant and two constables will face misconduct proceedings over their involvement in the case of Fiona Pilkington and her 18-year-old daughter Francecca Hardwick, who were both found dead in a burnt-out car in October 2007.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry found that Leicestershire Police officers should have done more to identify Ms Pilkington and her daughter as vulnerable after a litany of complaints to the force about anti-social behaviour towards the family.

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But Chief Constable Simon Cole said the four officers identified in the report were not in danger of being dismissed because their actions were not gross misconduct.

Speaking at a media briefing after the report, he said: “What happens now is they will face a misconduct meeting, which is a formal part of a misconduct process, and that will take place over the coming weeks and months.

“The recommendation of the independent investigation is not that their jobs are at jeopardy – they face misconduct meetings and that means that losing their jobs is not a sanction available.”

Ms Pilkington, 38, torched her Austin Maestro car at a lay-by near her home in Barwell, Leicestershire, while she and her disabled daughter sat inside.

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Their deaths followed 10 years of torment at the hands of yobs who taunted them and pelted their home with stones, eggs and flour.

A 180-page report published by the IPCC yesterday found that mistakes in recognising Ms Pilkington and Francecca as vulnerable “lay at the core of their failure to provide a cohesive and effective approach to the anti-social behaviour the family suffered”.

It concluded the police officers had systems in place which should have highlighted the problems the family were suffering.

The report lists 33 recorded incidents between November 1997 and October 2007 when the family had contact with officers.

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Ms Pilkington also wrote once directly to police and twice to her local MP, who forwarded the letters to the force, complaining of harassment and anti-social behaviour.

“Incidents were too often dealt with by police officers in isolation and with an unstructured approach,” the report added.

IPCC commissioner Amerdeep Somal said the family could not have done more to highlight their plight as police missed “several opportunities” to intervene.

She added: “Fiona, her mother, her neighbours and MP had all contacted the police to inform them that she had repeated and justifiable concerns about her family’s predicament.

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“Yet, no one person gripped these reports and took charge to strategically manage and oversee what should have been a targeted police response.

“There was nothing in place to ensure the Pilkington family were considered by police as vulnerable or repeat victims, contrary to the force’s own strategy.

“Systems were in place for officers to have linked the catalogue of incidents but these were not well utilised. Police missed several opportunities to take robust action, inadequately investigated criminal allegations on some occasions and failed to record information on their own intelligence system.”

The report comes after an inquest attacked the force for failing to properly respond to dozens of pleas from the family to intervene.

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