Three PCs and a community support officer (CSO) are to be charged with misconduct in a public office following the death of a vulnerable Iraqi refugee who was murdered after being mistaken for a paedophile.
A file of evidence was compiled by the police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over the way police allegedly handled the case of Bijan Ebrahimi in the days before his death in Bristol.
Three Avon and Somerset PCs – Kevin Duffy, Helen Harris and Leanne Winter – are to be charged with misconduct in public office for allegedly failing to respond to allegations and calls for help from Ebrahimi, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Friday.
CSO Andrew Passmore is to be charged with misconduct in public office for allegedly giving false information to the 999 operator that he was outside Ebrahimi’s home at an “important” time. He will also be charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly giving different accounts to the police murder investigation and the IPCC investigation.
The CPS said there was insufficient evidence to bring charges of misconduct in public office against two other members of Avon and Somerset staff – a police emergency call taker and an emergency call supervisor. Malcolm McHaffie, the CPS’s deputy head of special crime, said: “The decision to prosecute was reached after careful consideration of the evidence and was taken in accordance with the code for crown prosecutors.
“We have determined that there is sufficient evidence to give rise to a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest. All four individuals will appear at Bristol magistrates court for a preliminary hearing on 14 January 2015.
“Criminal proceedings have now commenced and the aforementioned individuals have the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Lee James was jailed for life for the murder of Ebrahimi in July 2013 and Stephen Norley was sentenced to four years for assisting an offender.
