80yo killed by kids, 11yo missing 14 days, class action lawsuit against police and other stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities you missed this week - curated by Melissa Sigodo
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It’s fair to say it has been a heavy week. News broke of a young man who went into open water and sadly died. This comes following the tragic news of Kaliyah Coa, an 11-year-old girl who entered the River Thames and has still not been found 14 days on.
One of the most difficult stories I read this week was that of two children being convicted of killing Bhim Kohli, an 80-year-old man who was out walking his dog. I could only find one British news outlet that accurately described the sickening incident as a racist attack, as he was called a P**i during the brutal assault. Otherwise, no social media tributes paid by politicians, no front page, no national conversation.
Rest in peace Bhim Kohli.
Please do look after yourselves people. I found myself overwhelmed by all the news of death and murder this week, but it is important that we stay informed, so thank you for staying informed with me.
Without further ado, here is this week’s newsletter.
Bhim Kohli
A 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 80-year-old Bhim Kohli in a racist attack while he walked his dog in a park. The court heard that the boy racially abused the pensioner and slapped him in the face with a shoe while he was on his knees, as the girl laughed and filmed it. Read the full story by Mark Duell and Claire Duffin and The Daily Mail.
News
The search to find 11-year-old Kaliyah Coa who entered the River Thames is now in its 14th day. Police say the child had been playing during a school inset day before she went missing. Read the latest story by Berk Uyal at News Shopper.
A 15-year-old boy who died after getting into difficulty in a lake in Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham, has been named as Izaiah Smith. Tributes have been paid to the teen who was described as kind, respectful and a promising young footballer. Read the full story by Berk Uyal at News Shopper. A GoFundMe was also launched for the Izaiah surpassing its £3,000 goal by raising over £20,000.
A statue has been erected in memory of a schoolgirl who was the first person to have air pollution recorded as a cause of death on her death certificate. The bronze of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah which stands 1.37m or 4ft 6in tall and was funded through public donations, has been unveiled in a park near her south London home. Read the full story by Ross Lydall at The Evening Standard.
Housing
A mum thought she was going to die after a lift in her block fell two floors and the doors refused to open in her building block run by L&Q. The terrified mother who is also forced to deal with mould and water damage says that the housing association won’t take action until something bad happens. Read the full story by Ben Lynch at Mylondon.
Windrush
The government has been accused of "putting a sticking plaster over a gaping wound" after its latest £1.5million fund to help victims of the Windrush scandal. Batman actor Colin McFarlane, whose father was part of the Windrush generation says he feels that Labour “in may respects are worse” than the Conservatives and that he “expected empathy” from them but “they've done nothing."Read the full story by Dave Burke at The Mirror.
Legal
Social media posts made by ex-footballer Joey Barton about presenter and former footballer Eni Aluko where he accused her of “playing the race card” and other claims were defamatory, a High Court judge has found in the first stage of a libel case. Read the full story by Adina Campbell at BBC.
Over 100 relatives of people who have died after contact with the police in the UK since 1971 have joined plans for a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit aimed at police officers, police chiefs and government departments aiming to get compensation and justice. Read the full story by Jessica Murray at The Guardian.
The University of Essex has dropped a case against six students who shared breaking news posts from news site Middle East Eye that reported the death of a Hamas leader on a pro-Palestine Society Instagram page. The society was also told that the posts had been reported to the police but did not reveal who had made the complaint. Police have now also dropped the case. Read the full story by Areeb Ullah at Middle East Eye.
Policing
A “murder prediction” programme is being developed by the government in hopes it will be able to use the personal data of people “known to the authorities” to “identify the people most likely to become killers”. But campaigners claim data would “create bias into the predictions” against ethnic minorities and those who are poor. Read the full story by Vikram Dodd at The Guardian.
Crime
A British Transport Police officer has been charged with assault by beating after incident where a 15-year-old girl who had passed through the ticket barriers at Camden Road overground station. PC Adrian Young, 47, is alleged to used excessive force to detain the child. Read the full report at IOPC.
A mum who drowned her two sons in the bath and claimed it was “an accident” has been found guilty of murder. Kara Alexander, 47, killed Elijah Thomas, two, and Marley Thomas, five, before their dad came to collect them for the weekend. The judge said the woman was in “a psychotic state” when she committed the acts “which had been cannabis induced.” Read the full story by Sam Corbishley at The Metro.
The family of a mum who was stabbed to death at Notting Hill Carnival have paid tribute describing her as “pure magic.” Cher Maximen was stabbed in front of her young daughter after she was knocked to the ground and tried to get up when a fight broke out near her. Shakeil Thibou, 20, has been found guilty of her murder. Read the full story by Your Local Guardian.
A man has been arrested following an ITV News investigation which exposed a white supremacist network, Active Club England which is using a morning workout sessions to secretly build far-right militia which now has over 100 members. One member said: "I got about a grand's worth of throwing knives and axes, and I got a bunch of bows and s*** as well." Read the full story by Rohit Kachroo at ITVX.
Politics
The chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, Shaista Gohir, is calling for an inquiry into Islamophobia monitoring group Tell Mama, after accusing it of being “silent” when Muslims have been targeted by politicians, as well as questioning if the Conservative party used it “as a vehicle to monitor extremism.” Read the full story by Aamna Mohdin and Chris Osuh
Education
Academics and campaigners have slammed research which claims that race is not a significant factor in school exclusions or academic achievement in England. Professor Kehinde Andrews, education campaigner Timi Okuwa, and MP Diane Abbott have accused the authors of “ignoring the complex ways race shapes educational outcomes—and of giving cover to institutional racism.” Read the full story by Richard Sudan at The Voice.
Health
Black people living with HIV are being failed by GPs and say they have received judgemental treatment including one GP putting on gloves and opening a window before an examination, while another person says she was asked ‘who told you to get pregnant when you have HIV?’”. Read the full story by Tobi Thomas at The Guardian.
Disabilities
A 47-year-old man who is blind, autistic and with learning disabilities has been forced to live a life of solitude after being left to sit in the armchair of his bedroom while his carers from under Lifeways care sit in the living room. Mikey who used to be active and spend time outside his flat is now losing his mobility. Read the full story by Daniel Hewitt at ITV.
World News
Around 6000 living immigrants in US have been classified as “dead” as President Donald Trump ordered the Social Security Administration to move them to the “death master file” which was made to hold the social security numbers of people who are no longer alive. The shift now means that the immigrants can no longer access financial services. Read the full story by Sudiksha Kochi at USA Today.
At least 33 people have been killed by torrential rains and floods in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa. The disaster has sent residents fleeing by swimming to safety in homemade canoes. Watch the report by BBC Africa.
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