10 Leicestershire cops to be investigated over Fiona Pilkington tragedy

Fiona Pilkington tragedy: 10 police officers investigated for alleged failings

Ten police officers are being investigated for alleged failings which allowed teenage yobs to drive Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter to their deaths.

16 Mar 2010

The Independent Police Complaints Commission have served disciplinary notices on the officers, who rank from constable to inspector, while inquiries into their conduct continue.

Leicestershire Police were contacted 33 times in 10 years about bullies harassing Miss Pilkington and her 18-year-old daughter, Francecca Hardwick, in the street where they lived in Barwell.

An inquest last September found that, despite the repeated pleas for help, the family received only eight visits from police officers.

After enduring a decade of violence, vandalism and taunts, Miss Pilkington, 38, killed herself and her daughter in October 2007.

A jury at the inquest into the deaths ruled police officers and council officials failed to properly share information.

The police also failed to offer Miss Pilkington and her daughter sufficient protection. These failings contributed to their deaths, the jury ruled.

Following the hearing, Chris Eyre, then temporary Chief Constable of the force, offered his "unreserved apologies" to Miss Pilkington's family.

The IPCC launched an inquiry into the way police had dealt with the family's complaints in the years before their deaths.

In an update on the investigation, the watchdog said: "We have now served advisory notices on a total of 10 Leicestershire Police officers and this situation is being kept under review.

"Such notices are not judgmental in any way, but are required under police misconduct regulations, and served on officers to advise that their conduct is under investigation."

The officers under investigation have not been suspended and remain on duty. It is understood that at this stage the investigations remain at a disciplinary level rather than potentially criminal.

An IPCC spokesman added: "We are progressing this rigorous investigation as swiftly as possible and will make our findings public in due course."

The IPCC is also investigating officers from the same police station over the case of Joanne Butler. The 38-year-old mentally ill woman was bludgeoned to death by an alcoholic neighbour at her home in Earl Shilton after police failed to respond to several 999 calls.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7455728/Fiona-Pilkington-tragedy-10-police-officers-investigated-for-alleged-failings.html

I'm probably being a tad overly sarcastic in this reply, but there is no funding generated by chasing up abusive, bullying or aggressive behaviour.

Speeding, driving without a Road Fund Licence and illegal parking on the other hand.............