Reports of abuse and neglect of disabled people.

CAMPAIGN FOR DISABILITY AWARENESS.

Dear reader,

the reason for this blog is to draw attention to the idea that disabled people, either physically disabled or mentally impaired are vulnerable and are more susceptible to abuse and oversights concerning their welfare or health.

Here are some case histories which have happened over recent years.

July 2007.

1. Kevin Davies was an epileptic who had been kept hostage locked up in a garden shed and fed potato peelings. On his death it had been discovered that he had been given weedkiller.

2. Steven Hoskins, a person with a learning difficulty had been kept prisoner in his own flat. The authorities were notified about suspicious noises coming from his flat, but nothing was done. He was beaten and tortured. He was also made to wear a dog collar and kept on a lead. Steven was left hanging from a viaduct where a woman stood on his hands and he fell one hundred feet to his death.

January 2008.

3. Brent Martin was murdered by two youths who bet each other five pounds that they could knock him out. It was quoted that he was a gentle giant and that the youths took advantage of his better nature. Also, it was reported that there had been a spate of crimes against disabled people who were targetted for their disability.

July 2008.

4. An investigation was held concerning NHS treatment of people with a learning disability.

A case was quoted where it took three days for a person with a broken leg to see a pain team. He died eight weeks later.

I think the conclusion from this case is that people with a mental handicap / impairment including the elderly are more at risk from neglect because they are unable to state their needs.

November 2013.

5. Bijan Ibrahimi was a person with a learning difficulty. His interest was flowers. On photographing the damage done to his flowers he was called a paedophile and to his disbelief was arrested. After a man killed him by stamping on his head while another provided white spirit which was then used to set his corpse on fire.

About the author of this blog:

I myself received a stab wound after being assaulted and provoked.

I took up martial arts classes to learn some more self defense. I had a feeling that there was a bit more to these classes than sport concerning the instructors but that could be down to my paranoid illness or projection after my stabbing.

A number of years later I was assaulted with a bottle and was punched and then kicked when I was on the ground. I got up and ran off but my assailants gave chase until my left knee which had been repaired after a road accident, suddenly gave way and I hit the road sustaining further injuries to my knee.

These assaults to my person may have just been by opportunists but with a mentall illness (paranoid schizophrenia) it is a struggle not to strengthen my negative feelings to the community. As it is I have relocated to a rural area.

I have asked for respite care as as a day patient at the local hospital but due to recent cuts there is only access to hospital facilities as an in patient.

I am unable to get an appointment to see my psychiatrist until next year. I recent have only been able to average about two appointments a year. I have been promised visits by a CPN but for the most of the time time they do not appear.

I fear slipping through the net where family and friends and the police have to take on the burden for a lack of support by the health service.

Before I relocated from Bristol I had been a disability advisor with Bristol City Council for a year and believe in a policy of social inclusion.

David Smith.