Monday 12 March 2012

Learning Disability Hate Crime Awareness.

On Monday 20th February 2012, at 8.20pm, I faced Learning Disability Hate Crime by home area in Bradmore. I was just going into town for a drink to meet friends.

As I was going out to lock my door at 8.15pm, I saw an Indian guy with pale blue sweater with a hood, he had black curly hair, mid brown skin and he was roughly about just over 5 foot 5 in height.
He was on the opposite side of the road to me, he headed off faster than me. I didn't think anything of him because I don't know him.

I walked along the road, stood waiting for my bus.
The same guy came behind me as he gabbed my bag out my hand, ran across the road, go into a blue car while it was driving.
Whoever was driving was driving so fast he or she would have been done for speeding if the police would have seen them.
At speed it was going I couldn't catch the reg number.
I am not very good with numbers anyway.

For 5 minutes I walked around in shock and Sheree panic.
I knew my phone and keys were in my bag so I ran across the pub, the staff were very good as they rang the police and I had a free pint.
The police came down, took my details and then drove me to my sister's home.
Lucky my sister had a spare set of my keys.
My sister and her boyfriend were very good, they drove me to my home to get my computer and laptop to take to their home.
My sister stopped my calls on my phone, rang centro to sort me out a new Disabled bus pass and stop my bank because my card was taken out of my bus pass, which was also in my bag.

The next morning the police came to my sister's house to take a statement off me.
I hadn't slept very well there that night, everything was all going round and round inside my head.
By the time I did a statement with police I had a bad job remembering anything other than this Indian guy with blue sweater and the blue car he jumped into.

From there my sister and her boyfriend drove me up to my home to change my locks and put my computer and laptop back where it was before the crime.

On the Thursday of that week the police came down to my home lucky for me bring back my bag.
My bank card was taken out of my Disabled bus pass, but my Disabled bus pass card was taken out it's wallet.
My bank card had gone.
The police did finger prints on an Iceland shopping card, my library card and my Disabled bus pass card but nothing was found.

Not long after the police left that day Victim support rang me to ask how I was feeling. I told them I was in shock but the police, my sister and her boyfriend have been great support.
In a couple days Victim support sent me an attack alarm.
At the end of last week someone from Victim rang me up to make an appointment for me to have some counselling on Tuesday this week at 1.00pm

Someone had handed my bag into the police station.
I think he took what he wanted and left the bag just anywhere, which is good for me but he's made himself found out without him knowing about it.
Then isn't good, he shouldn't have took my bag at all.


Last Thursday me and my sister went down to the Police station so I could look at some picture but none of them looked like him.
Saying that I drew a picture of him, which I gave the police.

Lucky for me even though I couldn't ring anyone or get into my home the night of the crime because my keys and phone were in my bag.

I am lucky I live near a local pub, I would have panic more.
It can be very hard to trust anyone today.
I would be scared of knocking on peoples's doors mainly if I don't know them because I could be anyone to them, even though I am not that kind of person but they don't know that. I guess I may have found help but it would have took longer than it did if I hadn't have lived near the pub.
I only panic for about 5 minutes wondering what to do because I was in complete shock.
There are some people with disabilities and health problems worse than me.
They may have been wondering around all night having families, carers and etc worrying about them.
Lucky for me my communication skills aren't that bad so I was a bit understood by the police compared to how I was years ago, this is why nothing has been done about the crimes I have faced in the past.
This can make a lot of crimes disbelieved because a lot of people with disabilities and health problems find it hard to make ourselves understood.
Like I said in one of my reports last year, there are not cct cameras everywhere.

All disabilities and health problems are different some get better as people get older but others don't.

People who commit crimes always pick a quite moment where no one is about to be seen.
Normally outside my local pub, mostly there's people smoking outside but for some strange reason it was very quite that night of the crime.
When I walked into the pub after the crime there was only two members of bar staff and one customer who was gone in no time.