>> Presenter Jon Snow: Now this summer's Paralympics were
supposed to change forever our attitude to disability.
But have they really done this?
This week, Channel 4 News is going to be investigating
the positon of disabled people in society.
Five years ago tomorrow, Fiona Pilkington killed herself
and her disabled daughter Francecca Hardwick
following a campaign of abuse by local youths.
An inquiry found police had failed to help the family
and pledges were made to ensure this never happened again.
But Channel 4 News has been given exclusive access
to a report revealing that many forces are still failing
to help disabled people who are subjected to hate crime.
Our reporter Katie Razzall has been listening to one man's story.
>>Michael Bailey: Please, please, get me out of here.
I can't live like this no more, under threat, all the time.
>> Reporter Katie Razzall: The words of a desperate man...
>> Bailey: Please help me
>> Razzall: Michael Bailey has a muscle-wasting disease.
Night after night he is terrorised
by a group of youths outside his house.
What's happening to Michael should be classified as
a disability hate crime.
>> Bailey: They were shouting names after me, freak, filthy person.
>> Razzall: We gave him a camera for a month to record the abuse.
>> Bailey: There's panic setting in now.
Sheer panic. [shouting]. God.
>> Razzall: For 7 years, Michael's suffered verbal abuse and more.
His mobility scooters have been torched;
his shed set on fire as he slept -
damaging the back of his house;
most recently he was attacked by 4 youths
who demanded money and tried to tip him out of his wheelchair.
All of this has made him terrified
of the gang which hangs around his neighbourhood.
>> Bailey: It's just a threat on your life.
You feel a threat on your life all the time.
>> Razzall: Michael's torment makes him ever fearful.
We met him first as the Paralympics ended
and Britain basked in a feeling that attitudes
to disabled people were changing.
That's not how Michael feels.
>> Bailey: You feel you're worth nothing,
even though you know it's not true.
Your dignity all goes. You feel as if
you're just a thing sitting in a chair.
>> Razzall: That feeling was exacerbated when
in his video diary, Michael describes how he's
just been pelted with branches and other
missiles on his way to church.
>> Bailey: I just feel my life is under threat.
>> Razzall: Even a trip to his local shop fills Michael with dread.
He spends his life waiting for the next attack.
[To Michael] What sort of names do people say?
>> Bailey: Freak, coffin-dodger
>> Razzall: Michael's inside, but he says he doesn't
usually venture here, to his closest shop.
He's been spat at and abused here
in the past. But he says today he feels safe with us.
Michael makes sure he's home before dark.
>> Bailey: It comes in about half six in the wintertime,
I'm in the house. I don't go out.
>> Razzall: Once inside, he prepares for the night,
making it look as if no one's at home....
In his darkest moments, Michael's even
thought of ending his life.
>> Bailey: I just wanted to just leave my body in the chair and go.
>> Razzall: Michael says he's contacted the police 20 times
over the last seven years. But the abuse goes on.
>> Voiceover: They would still be alive if the police had done their jobs.
>> Razzall: There are striking parallels with the case
of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter,
Francecca Hardwick, who had severe learning disabilities.
This mother called the police more than 30 times over the ten years
her family was the target of a campaign of abuse by youths.
But her cries for help went unanswered
and 5 years ago tomorrow, Fiona Pilkington
set her car on fire, killing them both.
A report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission
heavily criticised the police handling of the case.
The Home Office said then, this should never happen again.
But are police forces still failing?
Recent figures suggest there may be many other people
being tormented for their disability who are left
feeling completely unprotected. That's because
all too often the police are still treating
these cases as isolated incidents of anti-social behaviour,
rather than identifiying a campaign of disability hate crime.
Analysis from the police themselves shows
some forces do appear to have learnt lessons
from the Fiona Pilkington case.
Of the 2,000 disability hate crimes recorded
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year,
Leicestershire, the force which failed her family,
recorded 255 - the highest in the country.
But the PSNI, the force which should be protecting Michael Bailey,
recorded just 15 disability hate crimes
between April 2011 and April 2012 - despite having
nearly twice as many people in its jurisdiction.
Twelve forces recorded fewer than 10 cases last year.
Hampshire and Devon and Cornwall police forces recorded just 4 cases each.
For many of us Devon is all about cream teas
and picturesque harbours. But is there a more
troubling reality to this rural idyll?
Why are there so few reports of disability hate crime here?
Is it because this region really is a haven of tolerance?
Or do the low numbers suggest a problem with Devon and Cornwall police?
>> Police: I like to think with us early support,
early intervention, with our partners, does
I think enable us to make sure that a lot
of the issues that are brought to our attention
don't reach that threshold of becoming a hate crime,
which is really good news.
>> Razzall: So for you, four hate crimes in this part
of the world in 2011, in terms of disability,
is a good number.
>> Police: It is a good number. But equally I'd also
like to think we keep those active lines of communication
open with communities where we have
got potentially vulnerable people.
Razzall: Channel 4 News has been given a preview
of a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission
to be published on the anniversary of the death
of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter.
It's critical of the way some
police forces respond to disability hate crime.
>> EHRC: The responses around the country
with these numbers must mean that some areas
are not responding effectively to disability
hate crime. To an extent that does mean
there is a postcode lottery and for many
disabled people, they are not winning that lottery.
>> Police: There has been significant progress.
An offence that didn't exist until 2008
we've now got over 2,000 reports.
That probably doesn't reflect
the reality of people's lived experiences.
>> Razzall: It's not all bad news. There are some police forces
prioritising the issue of disability hate crime.
Here in Northamptonshire, officers receive
special training from someone who was forced
from their home after more than a year of abuse
because of their disability.
Richard Sherratt comes here to police headquarters
to tell them what that experience was like,
how the police reacted, and what they can do better.
At his home, the big Dr Who fan showed me
his collection of doctors.
Richard's back living with his mum and stepdad
after an attempt at independent living went
disastrously wrong. It had started so well.
>> Richard Sherratt: I'm happy.
>> Razzall: Do you know why you are feeling happy?
Can you remember what this photo is?
>> Sherratt: Flat...I loved it.
>> Razzall: Richard loved his flat - but one of
his neighbours didn't take kindly to having
a disabled person living there.
>> Sherratt's mother: A neighbour knocked
on your door one day didn't she?
And what did she say - she was going to
get you effing evicted. And what she was
saying was while Richard was living in that
flat, the value of her property would go down.
>> Razzall: For months, Dawn didn't know that
her newly independent son was actually
being victimised for his disability.
>> Mother: But weren't you scared of going
home in the end? You bumped into the person?
>> Sherratt: Yeah. >> Mother: You didn't like going home at all
did you? >> Sherratt: No.
>> Razzall: And what happened?
>> Mother: What did they do? What did they do
to your lights? Turned your electric off.
>> Razzall: Were you frightened? >> Sherratt: Yes.
>> Razzall: What were you scared of? >> Sherratt: Dark.
>> Mother: They spat on you didn't they?
Really frightened, wasn't you?
Because you rang your sister, didn't you?
I think you shouted 'help me' - was it?
>> Sherratt: Yeah.
>> Mother: Did you think the police looked
after you or not? >> Sherratt: Didn't work.
>> Mother: Didn't work did it. I think
what it was, wasn't it, was that nobody listened to you.
>> Razzall: But they're listening now - and Richard's
proud of this certificate from Northamptonshire
police for his work with them
and the charity Mencap on hate crime.
Back in Belfast, Michael though feels
let down by the police response
to the campaign against him.
[To Michael] Would it be fair to say
to you that the police have done nothing
or very little? >> Bailey: Very, very little.
>> Razall: And how did that make
you feel? >> Bailey: It makes me feel I'm
one of the lower people in society
and I don't count.
>> Razzall: We asked the PSNI whether - when youths
tried to steal Michael's wheelchair and
abused him for his disability -
the force recorded it as
a disability hate crime.
>> Police: No. It wasn't recorded as a
disability hate crime and that's a conversation
the area commander has had with the officer and
the supervising officer in respect to that.
I think it's a fair expectation as a superintendent
in the district to have expected my officers
to have reported that as a hate crime
and to have dealt with it accordingly.
>> Razzall: Only one of the incidents relating to Michael
that the PSNI have on record stretching
back to 2009 was recorded as a disability
hate crime - and that was in August this year.
In Fiona Pilkington's case, the main criticism
was the failure to link together her calls
about the abuse and identify her family
as vulnerable and needing immediate help.
>> Police: I feel certainly on examining
the reports from Mr Bailey that we should
have tagged previous incidents as hate crime.
>> Razzall: Since the PSNI identified Michael
as a victim of disability hate crime,
it says it has put in place measures to protect him,
including a number he can call at any time.
And on the evening of our interview with them,
police vans began to patrol the area
around Michael's house. Perhaps - soon,
he will be able to stop living in fear.
>> Snow: Katie Razzall reporting.
Now let's have a brief look at tomorrow's
special report: the Paralympics - a
legacy to stand on?
Paralympics presenter Sophie Morgan
investigates just what the airlines are doing
to improve access to people with the greatest
disabilities and speaks to those
still fighting for change. >> Sulaiman Khan: It's very degrading.
Even not being able to eat or drink
during your flight because you can't
use the bathroom. >> Tanvi Vyas: We've even had a couple
of Trailblazers have to urinate into
a bottle because they weren't able to get to the toilet.
>> Snow: In this post-Paralympics era, are those with
disabilities still living in a no fly Britain?