Youths tormented mother who killed herself and daughter, inquest told

[redkite]

www.guardian.co.uk - Guardian.co.uk - 17-Sep-09

Youths tormented mother who killed herself and daughter, inquest told

Fiona Pilkington set light to car with disabled daughter and herself inside after suffering years of abuse, jury hears

A mother who killed herself and her disabled daughter in a car fire had faced constant abuse and threats from a gang of youths, an inquest heard today.

Fiona Pilkington, 38, set light to her car with her 18-year-old disabled daughter Francecca Hardwick and herself inside. The burning car was found in a layby on the A47 near Earl Shilton, Leicestershire on 23 October 2007, an inquest at Loughborough town hall heard today.

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[er 59]

How terribly sad, and what a waste of two lives.I hope those responsible have a conscience and it haunts them forever :(

[FlamingKaty]

Apparently both the council and the Police had been called on numerous occasions and nothing had been done. Following further taunts, the mother phoned the Police shortly before she killed herself and her daughter and was told to ignore it...

It makes my blood boil.

FlamingKaty

[Beth]

A woman found dead in a burning car alongside her disabled daughter had suffered years of abuse from a gang of youths, an inquest has heard.
The bodies of Fiona Pilkington, 38, and daughter Francecca Hardwick, 18, were found in a lay-by on the A47 near Earl Shilton in Leicestershire, in 2007.
An inquest at Loughborough Town Hall heard Ms Pilkington had apparently carried out a murder-suicide.
The inquest, heard by a jury, is expected to finish on Friday.
The jury heard that in the years before their deaths, police, social services and Miss Hardwick's school - Dorothy Goodman Special School in Hinckley - were aware of difficulties the family faced, including money worries.

'Like an inferno'

Ms Pilkington, of Bardon Road, Barwell, was a full-time carer to Francecca, who had severe learning difficulties. She also had a son, Anthony Hardwick, who is now 19.
The inquest was told Ms Pilkington is believed to have poured the contents of a 10-litre can of petrol over clothes in the back seat of the car, and set them alight.
A fire officer told the jury it caused an explosion so severe it blew off the sunroof and side windows and witnesses said the car was "like an inferno".

Fiona couldn't defend herself. She was very shy and she didn't want any trouble

The pair had to be identified by DNA profiling.
Relatives described how Ms Pilkington had complained for years about youths "taunting and abusing" her at her home, but six months before her death had told them "I give up".
Giving evidence, Ms Pilkington's mother Pam Cassell, 72, said a gang up to 16-strong would stand at the front of the house shouting that they could do anything they liked to the family.
She said: "They used to ring on the doorbell and say that she had been hitting her kids. They were petty things like that.
"They used to throw stones at the house and then they threw acorns and flour and eggs."

She added: "Fiona couldn't defend herself. She was very shy and she didn't want any trouble so she tended to ignore them. She was very vulnerable."
Mrs Cassell said the council imposed a 300-yard exclusion zone for the youths around the family's house but had failed to enforce it.

from bbc news :( very sad indeed

[Olivia]

I read today that shehad rang the police after they were urinating against her house (amongst other things) and even though there was a 300 yard exclusion zone that the 'gang' were not aloud to enter, the police said to "ignore" them and wait for them to go away. Truely disgraceful.

Can only hope that they are both now at peace.

[redkite]

"Fiona couldn't defend herself. She was very shy and she didn't want any trouble so she tended to ignore them. She was very vulnerable."

If things got that bad I would rather risk confronting youths while defending my right for peace than take my own life.

I read about this when it happened, and it's been stuck in my mind since, I hope there is something positive that can be learned from this sad story.

[jrobertson]

I hope in future neighbours find it within their power to use something like Twitter to help keep an eye on vulnerable members in their community, and offer to help when it's needed most.

[fredblog]

redkite

If things got that bad I would rather risk confronting youths while defending my right for peace than take my own life

That's easy for you to say you were not in her shoes.

I have been on the receiving end of this type of crime both for myself and my son. The response when I reported to it police and council was that I was exaggerating and and really 'it's not that bad, now if it become racial please come back to me and we will take action' and 'never heard of a disability hate crime'. In other words go away and hide, a reaction many take to the disabled.

If she has done one thing in her tormented life it is that in death she has highlighted the law enforcement agencies complete disinterest and disregard, and in some cases disgust, to vulnerable people and the sheer amount of torment that they have to deal with and endure on a daily basis and have been for decades.....not this is not new.

BUT WHY did it have to take 2 deaths for the powers that be to sit up and LISTEN?

My plead to the media is run with this story until the powers that be act and the vunerable/disabled recieve the same amount of protection and those without a disability.

[redkite]

That's easy for you to say you were not in her shoes.

After I read your reply It helped me recall the following story:

<snip>
www.guardian.co.uk - Guardian.co.uk - 27-Oct-07

Jail for ex-soldier who urinated on dying disabled woman


A drunken former soldier who urinated on a disabled neighbour as she lay dying after a fall in the street was jailed for three years yesterday and told that he and his friends had shamed a town. Anthony Anderson, 27, and a group of friends who filmed the humiliation of Christine Lakinski on a mobile phone, have been cold-shouldered in Hartlepool and turned away from shops and neighbours' homes.They were castigated by a judge and police at a brief court hearing which was told that their "almost unbelievable" behaviour had turned the lesson of the Good Samaritan on its head. Ms Lakinski, a 50-year-old bent by a spine deformity and bullied for most of her life, had also been covered in shaving foam and kicked to "make her wake up".



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</snip>

[fredblog]

I vaguely recall that..to these people I have a saying that many dislike (probably because it's too close to home for comfort)

Becareful what you wish for!