Life sentence for man who murdered disabled neighbour

Lee James killed Mr Ebrahimi and then set his body alight during the attack on 14 July. His body was found 100 yards from his maisonette in the Brislington area of Bristol, a crime described in court by Mr Justice Simon as “deeply shocking.”

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating how police handled calls from Mr Ebrahimi in the days before his death. It has interviewed several police officers for gross misconduct, as well as six staff who dealt with his phone calls.

On 11 July, an angry mob confronted Mr Ebrahimi outside his home when they wrongly believe he was a paedophile. Mr Ebrahimi was arrested and later released by Avon and Somerset police.

Anti-social behaviour

Complaints had been made about Mr Ebrahimi taking pictures of children in the area, but neighbours believe that he was trying to gather evidence of anti-social behaviour and damage to his garden.

Mr Ebrahimi’s family said last month: “It should not be forgotten that Bijan had been the victim of hate crimes for a number of years before his death, both due to his race [he was Iranian] and his physical disability.

He was subjected to horrendous bullying by bad people on a daily basis Manizhah Moores, sister of Bijan Ebrahimi

“It was for this reason that the police should have taken especially seriously his calls for help in the days before he was murdered.”

The family’s solicitor, Tony Murphy of Batt Murphy,said: “The failure by the authorities to provide even the most basic protection to Bijan as a long-standing victim of hate crime is deeply concerning.”

At an earlier court hearing it was heard that Mr Ebrahimi’s killer, 24-year old Lee James (pictured), had barged into his home warning “he would take the law into his own hands”.

Residents have spoken of the “anger” and “hostility” that was in the air locally when the rumours circulated Mr Ebrahimi was a paedophile.

‘Let down’

The family of Bijan Ebrahimi feel “let down by the police and other agencies”, his sister has said.

Manizhah Moores said her brother had been suffering racial and physical abuse where he lived, and claims he was told he needed to provide photographic evidence to support his allegations of harassment and damage to his property.

The things our brother was subjected to were barbaric Manizhah Moores, sister of Bijan Ebrahimi

She said he returned to his house after his arrest believing he would get support from the police if needed, and Ms Moores said police should have realised he was coming back to a “hostile environment”.

In a victim impact statement to the court, Ms Moores described how, on visiting Bijan’s flat, her sister had “witnessed him being called a ‘cockroach’, ‘Paki’, and being told ‘go back to your own country’ on many occasions by some of the people in the area, which included both some young and some old.”

Mr Ebrahimi had endured abuse at a previous address too, said his sister in her statement:

“He was subjected to horrendous bullying by bad people on a daily basis. Call it racism, call it prejudice, it doesn’t really matter what you call it, the things our brother was subjected to were barbaric. They included setting his home on fire when he lived in West Town lane, causing our beloved, softly-spoken brother to slip further and further into depression.”

Seeing the cctv footage of her brother’s body being set alight was “devastating”, Ms Moores told Channel 4 News:

“for days I was crying, just looking at the flames and thinking my brother’s body was lying there in the fire”.

But she said the family wanted it to be made public to send “a very powerful message to other people .. that was a human being who’s lying there and burning, and I hope everyone can feel it and learn something from it.”

Past police contact

The IPCC is also investigating “a number of reports of earlier police contact with Mr Ebrahimi going back a number of years, and examining how incidents were dealt with, and any police interaction with other agencies.”

Stephen Norley (pictured right), who prosecutors say helped Lee James drag Mr Ebrahimi’s body away and then set it on fire, was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting assisting an offender.

Police regrets

Apologising for what happened to Mr Ebrahimi, Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Nick Gargan said: “It’s clear there are steps that we can collectively take to keep vulnerable people in our communities safe from harm. This is a tragedy that should never be repeated.”

Local Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens said:”I am determined to look publicly at what could or should have been done differently. I will be holding a public meeting involving the police, Bristol City Council and any other organisations involved so that questions can be asked and any lessons learnt in order to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

The life of Bijan Ebrahimi 
Born in Iran, the youngest of five children, Bijan Ebrahimi looked after both his mother and father during protracted periods of illness. In 2000, aged 31, he came to the UK with the aim of going to university, but a long-standing back condition worsened, causing him to become registered disabled. Despite this he completed diplomas in plumbing and carpentry, and took a foundation course in IT.
He lived in Bristol, where his main hobbies were caring for his stray cat and his flower baskets. Despite suffering depression as a result of the verbal abuse he suffered from his neighbours, when his brother-in-law died in 2008 Bijan stepped in to the role of father figure for his nephew.
(taken from Manizhah Moore's victim impact statement)