A social worker on Friday said British authorities failed to help a mother who killed herself and her disabled daughter after enduring years of bullying by local youths, while a police superintendent said the criminal system made it hard to deal with juveniles.
The two gave testimony during an ongoing inquest into the 2007 deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter.
The inquest jury and coroner also heard that local police logged 33 calls from the family complaining about abuse from a gang of around 16 youths but never prosecuted anyone for bullying or harassment.
Pam Cassell, Pilkington’s mother, told the inquest last week that her daughter had repeatedly asked police for help in dealing with the youths who taunted her family for more than 10 years, screaming abuses at the family and throwing eggs at their home in Leicestershire, central England. Cassell said police told Pilkington to close her curtains and ignore the abuse.
Jurors were told the gang once attacked Pilkington’s teenage son, who suffers from severe dyslexia, with an iron bar and locked him into a shed at knifepoint.
Jurors also heard that on another occasion, one youth shouted at the family: “We can do anything we like and you can’t do anything about it.”
In October 2007, Pilkington killed herself and her 18-year-old daughter, Francecca Hardwick, who also had learning disabilities, by setting fire to her car while she and Francecca sat inside. Her son, now 19, attended the inquest along with Cassell.
Social worker Tony Howlett testified that authorities failed to recognize the depth of Pilkington’s despair and said social services knew Pilkington had expressed suicidal thoughts — but that the remarks were seen as a general expression of her anxieties.
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