Police face misconduct probe over Pilkington case

An inspector, a sergeant and two constables will be questioned over their actions after investigators ruled that Leicestershire Police should have done more to identify the mother and daughter as vulnerable.

The mistake “lay at the core of their failure to provide a cohesive and effective approach to the anti-social behaviour the family suffered”, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry found.

The IPCC report reveals a number of serious failings by police. It found that –

– the family had “repeated and justifiable conerns about their predicament”
– police had missed several opportunities to take robust action
– officers had inadequately inevstigated criminal allegations

Channel 4 News has seen extracts of the diary kept by Fiona Pilkington in the months before she took her own life (see above).

Over a three-day period in May 2007, she describes having bikes rammed into her front hedge and shouting outside her windows until 2.30 in the morning.

She says she feels “stressed out” and “cheesed off” and notes that her daughter Francecca, who had learning difficulties, was unable to settle until “very late at night”.

On 12 May 2007, a Saturday, she adds in the “Are the police aware?” column: “No. Learnt from experience that no one is usually available from Friday-Monda (sic) as is busy elsewhere. This is a low priority.”

Then, several weeks later, on 2 June, Fiona Pilkington details having loose stones thrown at her house. Members of the gang “then tried to set fire to fence between our houses”.

“Can’t they just walk down the street without doing anything? It seems impossible,” she concludes.

Fiona Pilkington and Francesca Hardwick were discovered in their burning car at the side of the A47 near their home in Barwell, Leicestershire, in October 2007.

The inquest into their deaths heard that the family, including Ms Pilkingston’s son Anthony, were subjected to years of abuse in their street, Bardon Road, Barwell, by a gang of youths.

At the inquest into the mother and daughter’s deaths, the jury heard that the gang, some as young as 10, pelted the family home with eggs and stones, lit fires in their front garden, and locked Anthony in a shed at knifepoint.