Johnson: No excuses for mum, daughter deaths

Home secretary says "no excuses" for police failures over death of mother and daughter who suffered years of abuse

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Tuesday, 29, Sep 2009 05:24

By Matthew Champion.

There are "no excuses" for police and two councils failing to protect a mother who killed herself and her daughter after suffering years of abuse at the hands of local youths, the home secretary said today.

Alan Johnson told the Labour party conference in Brighton that the deaths of Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter Francecca Hardwick, known as Frankie, were an "exceptional case".

"But it's one that should never have happened and there must be no excuses, no complacency, no blaming the media because we don't like the facts they report," he said.

"This case tragically exposes the insufficient response to public anxiety that still exists in some parts of the country and we need to guarantee consistent standards for dealing with antisocial behaviour everywhere."

Mr Johnson, touted as a potential replacement for Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour party in the event of a general election defeat, said Britain's streets had gotten safer in the last 12 years, but "not as safe as they need to be".

"We need to do more to tackle gang violence, to further reduce shootings and stabbings, and more, much more, to address the problems of antisocial behaviour," he accepted.

"But Fiona Pilkington and her daughter weren't rescued and despair led to the terrible events we've been hearing about."

A jury at an inquest into the deaths of Ms Pilkington, 38, and Frankie, 18, found that the police and local council had failed to properly communicate and share information, while the relevant authorities did not respond to reported abuse.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has launched an investigation into the case after it emerged Ms Pilkington, her daughter and her young son Anthony, who is also disabled, suffered near-continual abuse from a group of local teenagers.

The bodies of Ms Pilkington, from Barwell, near Hinckley, Leicestershire, were found in a burned out car in a layby near their home in October 2007.

It is believed Ms Pilkington poured a ten-litre can of petrol over clothes in the back seat of the vehicle and set them alight.