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Watchdog says force had no effective system in place to deal with persistent harassment of disabled man The police watchdog has condemned a force’s “systemic failures” in helping the family of a man with severe learning difficulties who collapsed and died after confronting youths who had taunted him for years. Greater Manchester police completely failed to acknowledge the targeting of David Askew , 64, and his family as a hate crime, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said following an investigation. In almost half the incidents reviewed by the IPCC in which the family contacted the police there was no acknowledgement of the family’s vulnerability or the history of abuse suffered. Askew collapsed and died in the garden of his home in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, in March last year after confronting a group of youths who had reportedly thrown around a wheelie bin and tampered with his mother’s mobility scooter. Following his death it emerged that Askew and his family had reported anti-social behaviour and other crimes to the police on 88 occasions over six years. The case echoed that of Fiona Pilkington , who killed herself and her 18-year-old daughter, Francecca, who had severe learning difficulties, by setting fire to the car in which they were sitting near their family home in Barwell, Leicestershire, in October 2007. A subsequent inquest found the family had endured years of abuse motivated by the disability, and held police and council officials partly responsible for failing to properly respond to Pilkington’s requests for help. The IPCC report into Askew’s death was less condemnatory, noting that local police worked “diligently” to assist the family, including when off duty. However, it found that the police had failed to consistently identify the vulnerability of the Askew family, respond to incidents as possible hate crimes or liaise properly between officers responding to calls and the local neighbourhood policing team. The force had no systems in place to deal with such repeated targeting of the disabled, and many incidents were dealt in isolation by officers who did not know the background. “Anti-social behaviour is the type of low-level crime that can pass beneath the radar of police,” said IPCC Commissioner Naseem Malik. “However, for the families experiencing such crime it can be a horrific experience. The Askew family had experienced years of torment at the hands of local youths who targeted David in particular.” The IPCC recognised that some local officers “went beyond the call of duty” in trying to help the family, he said, adding: “While the Askew family perceived the work of the local team as assisting and giving them some comfort, they were actually being failed at a higher level as opportunities to implement a co-ordinated approach to tackle and deal with the problems was being missed. They were left with a sticking-plaster solution when the matter needed extensive surgery.” Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said the force recognised “more should have been done” to help Askew and his family. But, he said, even before the death the force had began a major review of how it dealt with anti-social behaviour and new systems were now in place to prevent future failings. Disability charities have repeatedly warned that crimes targeting disabled people are too often under-reported and not properly investigated. The IPCC report should be “a wake up call”, said Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope. He said: ‘Disabled people experience harassment and abuse on a daily basis, simply because they are different. Often it starts with persistent low-level incidents. But if left unchecked, anti-social behaviour can escalate into something more serious. The impact can be unspeakable. “Victims find it hard to come forward. Many will ignore harassment; others will find the justice system literally inaccessible. As a result disability hate crime is sorely under-reported and official figures mask the true scale of the problem. Where it is reported, conviction rates are much lower than other types of hate crime.” Last September, a 19-year-old man who lived near Askew was detained in a young offenders’ institution after he admitted using intimidating, threatening and aggressive behaviour against the family. Independent Police Complaints Commission Asbos Communities Disability Manchester UK criminal justice Crime Police Peter Walker guardian.co.uk