Disability Hate Crimes: Does Anyone Really Hate Disabled People? by Mark Sherry

Disability Hate Crimes: Does Anyone Really Hate Disabled People? by Mark Sherry

Author:Mark Sherry
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Discrimination, Law, Disability, Social Science, People With Disabilities
ISBN: 9781409407812
Publisher: Ashgate
Published: 2010-01-14T21:00:00+00:00


Chapter 4

the United kingdom experience

Disability hate crimes in the United kingdom have some similar features to those in the Us (for instance, although they are typically hyperviolent, they are almost never officially recognized), but the primary difference has been the effectiveness of disability organizations in publicizing such crimes and demanding more effective responses. Campaigns by disability organizations – especially through the disability magazine Disability Now, and in particular the publication ‘Getting away with murder’, written by katherine Quarmby, a comprehensive report about the failure of authorities to respond appropriately to many disability hate crimes

– raised community awareness of the problem and increased the pressure on authorities to respond appropriately (Disability Now et al., 2008). Disability Now published an in-depth investigation into the deaths of five disabled people in 2009: steven Hoskin, barrier-John Horrell, rikii Judkins, raymond atherton, and kevin Davies. This report was so groundbreaking, so influential, that it deserves detailed attention. it basically put disability hate crimes on the forefront of the disability movement’s political agenda in the Uk – and resulted in changes in policy and practice from the Government, the Crown Prosecution service, police, disability organizations, and many other agencies. Disability Now also published an analysis of 51 crimes which were identified as ‘potential disability hate crimes’. Also written by katherine Quarmby, the ‘Hate Crime Dossier’ compiled by Disability Now is incredibly powerful reading – containing cases of murder, torture, assault, grievous bodily harm, theft and arson. these two documents will be used as an entrée to discussing hate crimes in the United kingdom.

‘Getting Away with Murder’ and the ‘Hate Crimes Dossier’

the ‘Getting away with murder’ report had enormous impact because it demonstrated that the murder of disabled people may not simply be a ‘motiveless’ crime; it often stems from deep-seated animosity and prejudice which feeds off the wider cultural devaluation and social exclusion of disabled people. the murders mentioned in the report are the cases of albert adams, raymond atherton, kevin Davies, Christopher Foulkes, steven Gale, Colin Greenwood, Frankie Hardwick, shaowei He, barrie-John Horrell, steven Hoskin, rikki Judkins, Christine lakinski, brent martin, sean miles, laura milne, keith Philpott, Fiona Pilkington, and William ripsher.

most of these cases involved a direct physical assault upon the disabled person which caused death. they are not just violent – they are shockingly brutal … hyperviolent. For instance, brent martin was repeatedly punched, kicked, stamped on, and head-butted and died one day later. rikki Judkins was also punched, kicked, stamped on – but the murderers also dropped an 11-kilogram (24 pounds) stone on his head. sean miles was knifed, hit with a golf club and drowned. stephen Hoskin begged for help as he was drugged, tortured, humiliated and abused for hours. He was then taken to a viaduct and forced to hang from the railings, before one of his torturers stamped on his feet, causing him to fall 100 feet to his death. barrie-John Horrell was beaten, hit with a house brick, kicked, stamped on, and strangled. His body was then set on fire and hidden in a wooded area, where it decomposed for 11 days before being found.



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